


Minecraft, but it’s Ponyo

by orphan_account



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, mcyt
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dream Smp, Dream is a blob, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I dont ship irl dream and george, I'm Bad At Tagging, Inspired by Ponyo (2008), Inspired by Studio Ghibli, Light Angst, Minecraft, My First AO3 Post, Other, Platonic Relationships, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wholesome, fundy is a fox, mcyt - Freeform, takes place in Minecraft Universe, technodad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28204860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Life is mundane for young George and his guardian, Bad, living on a house on a mycelium-chipped cliff, by the sea. But things change when a strange blob washes ashore down in the rocks, and George finds himself a true and benevolent bucket-bearing friend.Psst, listen to the osts in each chapter![Also, I don’t watch the Dream SMP too much, so I apologise if the characters are out of character. They are all lovely people (: ]
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound, Darryl Noveschosch & Zak Ahmed
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	1. Arrival of a Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy! :)
> 
> Deep Sea Pastures - Joe Hisaishi
> 
> Mother of the Sea - Joe Hisaishi

It’s a vast, vast deep blue ocean. Down in the depths thrive an abundance— almost thousands of squids, all swaying around steadily to the calm currents. They were all spontaneously given life, all popping out of countless humble tiny prismarine crystals that drifted around.

With each little crystal, bundles of tiny squids all bloomed, now all drifting around freely. Bushels of codfish scurried freely amongst the open cold ocean, passing the usual tall stalks of kelp. Going deeper, closer to the surface, sat a strange vessel with flippers and a wooden dock— all contained within an air bubble overlooking a mossy ocean ruin.

A young man carefully dropped a single drop of one of his elixirs from a shiny potion bottle, downwards into what seemed like a well in the rocky ruins. This man was none other than the powerful sea sorcerer— Technoblade.

His long locks of salmon-pink hair flowed, with a golden crown adorned over his head. He was faceless, a boar mask in place with an underbite of large lower teeth jutting upwards, and he wore a crimson cloak over his white collared blouse. He’d been standing atop the wooden dock on another one of his sea missions as a sorcerer.

The single drop had made the ancient well light a soft luminous glow— the same crystals fluttering out from the hole’s depths, as countless inkfish quickly burst out from each petal-like crystal.

They all thrived under their sudden entrance, eagerly wiggling around in their newfound life. He was providing life to the ocean through these mere milk-white petals.

Meanwhile, right around the wooden trapdoors of the side of the vessel, a single white blob with its smile peeked from the trapdoor. Lush seagrass swayed around, making for perfect cover for the blob. Suddenly, little squeaks emerged from the trapdoor, following the blob.

Numerous tiny fish—just about identical to the white blob, had all popped out in wonder of their big brother’s absence. Technoblade turned around in suspicion as he’d heard the chatters of his children, and he headed toward the vessel’s side.

The big brother immediately forced all of his little brothers back into the ship, covering himself over the trapdoor realizing that their father noticed their chatters. A pod of dolphins had gathered, darting around the bubble chamber all chirping in excitement.

It was impossible to see through the mess of dolphins, so the wizard shrugged and brushed it off as just all the squeaky chirps of the dolphins that darted around. He decided to return back to his duties at the old ruins, cradling murky potion bottles in his arms. Relieved, the blob pulled away from the trapdoor slowly.

His little brothers followed promptly, all gathering around their big brother. They all squeaked their good-byes excitedly, while the blob smiled back and turned around to finally venture out into the open sea on his flippers— away from the isolation of their home.

He hopped aboard one of the inkfish that was drifting upwards, booking the start of his adventure. The indigo-coloured squid continued to coast its way above to the surface steadily while the blob peered down at the surface where the vessel sat.

He watched from above as the sight of his father’s ship grew smaller and smaller, while his father was still aboard on the wooden dock on his mission. His dotty eyes grew heavy, and he finally laid down on the soft surface of the squid he’d been aboard. He closed his eyes and finally drifted off to a peaceful slumber, the squid slowly carrying its way up to the surface, from the dark depths of the ocean before them.

———

A dark mass passed over the white blob and his ride, immediately waking him up in his eagerness. His ride had finally come all the way up to the surface— and he popped out of the water, just above the surface. Bobbing up and down steadily, he looked around in his surroundings, only to see the same old vast blue sea. He looked above to the center, taking in the calming blue skies in contrast to the dark of the ocean.

A mycelium-chipped cliff sat in front of him, cobblestone rocks planted all around as gentle shore waves pulled in and out around the rocky shore.

An odd-looking house sat atop the cliff, and the fish watched as a boy in a blue tee was making his way down the cliff over to the shore. Intrigued, he bobbed around in the water smiling at the beautiful new world he’d finally reached his way to.

A loud roaring whistle from a nearing ship behind him emerged, and he gasped being caught off guard, abruptly hopping off of the inkfish. The blob swam in the opposite way of the large ship, which only seemed to be pulling closer and closer to him no matter how quickly he swam on his flippers.

The net attached to the fishing ship swayed through the current, starting to pull in the blob and many of the other helpless codfish with him.

He dodged the rubbish that lunged toward him— old discs, frames, and buttons of all kind— until a clear empty glass bottle caught onto his smiling face.

The weight of the bottle pulled him down from the roaring sight of the fishing net, and he attempted to swim back to the surface helplessly on his little flippers.

———

“George! Come right back up, okay?” called Bad, peeking his head out of the window.

”Okay!” replied George.

The boy darted down the cliff to the rocky shore, his white sunglasses hopping on top of his head from the quick motions. He held his toy oak boat in his arms, finally making his way to the rocks. But he stopped, seeing something strange that had just washed ashore.

”Huh?”

George placed his boat down onto the ground, slipping off his muddy brown shoes as well. He took careful small steps in the waters, picking up the strange specimen he’d seen.

“A blob!”

It was a white blob— its dotty black eyes closed while a smile stayed on its face. It was stuck inside of a glass flask— tightly packed in. The boy shook it, hoping to loosen it but it was no use. He tapped it against his other hand, only to be met with the same loss. He pulled at its flippers sticking out from the opening of the flask, trying to pull it out carefully.

”Can’t get it out...” muttered George, continuing to shake the glass.

A mass of a dark wave pulled its way over to the rocks toward the boy, and George immediately picked up his shoes and his boat tucked in his other arm, scurrying back up to the higher rocks. He watched as the same eerie-looking waves finally flowed back into the ocean, its sharp squid-like eyes stalking the boy.

”That was weird.” the dark-haired boy remarked, bending down onto the flat rock. He placed down his belongings once again on the side, placing down the blob onto the ground with care.

Taking a stone from nearby, he gave the glass a light strike with a small _clunk_ , which broke down the glass bottle into shards of glass. He picked off the pieces of glass carefully off of the fish, holding it into his hands with care.

“Ow...” he uttered quietly.

The white blob had its eyes still closed, its body limp. It laid in his hands staying still.

”It looks a bit dead to me.” George remarked to himself quietly, until the fish had licked his thumb once, lightly. He gasped.

”It—It licked me! It’s alive!”

As if on cue, the same dark waves stretched once again toward George, who was already tapping on his muddy shoes with his belongings tucked into his arms.

The current seemed to be trying to climb onto the cliff helplessly, eyes still pierced onto the boy. The boy made his way upward the rocky fungi-lined cliff, going to a few cauldrons at the back of the house.

The waves finally pulled back in toward something— someone, a young man standing in the deep waters.

”Did you find my son?” he muttered at his servants. The eerie servants only prodded their heads, shaking no.

”What? He was captured— by a human? That kid...This isn’t good, not good at all...” the sorcerer hissed bitterly, “Keep following them...”

The boy hopped down onto the ground, placing the pail into one of the cauldrons, promptly twisting on the water hook to get it flowing.

The swift waters gushed into the bucket, filling it up quickly while the white fish continued to drift around limply. George shut off the water, peering down into the bucket solemnly. 

“Is it...already dead?”

He carefully reached into the water, holding the blob to turn it over slightly. The blob’s smile seemed to beam, and the young boy’s face lot up.

”You ARE alive!” he smiled in relief.

The blob anticipated, bobbing down into the pail, then bobbed back up— spurting water into George’s face. George giggled as he wiped off the water from his splashed face with his arms.

”We’re gonna be late, ya muffin!” called out Bad from the car.

George stood up promptly, carefully keeping a tight grip onto the bucket with his two hands as he made his way down over to the car. He waddled at an awkward pace, careful not to loosen his grip or have too much water splash around as he made his way.

Bad was just about to start the car until he saw someone _strange_ coming their way. He glared in suspicion at the man.

It was a man with strands of messy pink hair over his fierce boar-like face, and he had a ridiculous outfit of a crimson red cloak and a white tunic underneath— contrary to his shaggy appearance. He was waddling his way toward them.

He was splashing around strange-looking splash potions from his pocket onto the stony ground of the road. He was now heading toward George, who’d just gotten himself over to the car through his awkward pace.

The car was an embarrassing luminescent turquoise blue, sparkling even more in the sun rays. The boy pulled into the vehicle as his guardian opened up a car door for him. Bad glared at the man, until he finally stood up and popped out of the car.

”I don’t know who you are, but we don’t use any weird potions around here.”

The strange guy looked up, offended. “This isn’t poison! It’s ocean water—“

”Okay, you muffinhead. As long as it isn’t weedkiller.” Bad muttered, and he sat back down in the car seat next to George. “Excuse us.”

”Wait—“

Technoblade stared as the sparkly vehicle had already been making its way down the mountain road abruptly. He needed to get his son back.

”This isn’t good, not good at all...”  
  
Bad was in the car with George, who seemed to be very focused on his bucket. Their car had been making its way down over to the cove-guarded seaside town at a hasty pace, with them being late.

”That guy was a muffinhead. But don’t call anybody else muffinheads, alright? We never judge others by their looks...”

George nodded quietly, still peering down into the bucket. Bad took a quick look down at the bucket, seeing the strange blob smiling back at him. He smiled back, and reached down into the paper bag in between the two seats the two sat in.

”Looks like we can still make it, if we’re quick enough...” The hooded man pondered, handing a sandwich over to the boy, “Time for breakfast.”

George took the sandwich offered to him, and looked down at his friend who seemed interested.

“I wonder if he’ll like this...” he uttered, “Want some?”

Just as he was about to take out a piece of his bread, he noticed his thumb.

”Hey, my cut’s all gone!” he marveled, and he smiled at the blob, which beamed back happily. “Bad, I think I’ll call him..Dream!”

”Hm?” Bad glanced over at the boy.

”He came to me and I saved him, he’s my responsibility now. Maybe he’s magic.” George continued to marvel, as he tore off a piece of toasted warm bread. He held it in front of the blob, offering it to his friend.

Dream studied the morsel held before him with curious dotty eyes, and he rejected the crumb, turning his face away. George took back the crumb he’d offered, chewing on the toasted grain.

”Want porkchops instead?” He asked, just about to tear off a small piece from his sandwich.

Dream immediately leapt up, pulling the entire porkchop out of George’s grasp, splashing back into his bucket, and he munched away at the cooked chop. 

Within only a few seconds, he’d spedrun devouring the porkchop away. George watched in amazement.

”Bad, Dream really likes to eat porkchops!” he remarked, turning to his guardian who’d been at work on the wheel.

”Looks like he thinks he’s human too...”

The two had finally drove into the quarters of the seaside town, passing by the open blue sea in its calm tides and currents. Spruce wood docks were lined up by the shores while a few fishermen sat and waited, holding their fishing rods. Vessels tied to the logs bobbed up and down calmly in the more shallow waters.

Meanwhile, Technoblade was rushing in his funky flipper-equipped vessel, following the vehicle through the current. He had been stalking the car, until he’d almost hit a dead end right into the surface of an old wooden shipwreck.

”Gah! Turn, turn...” He muttered to himself, immediately turning his vessel around hastily. But this only made puffs of sand fly into the now murky waters, while the wizard attempted to shield his eyes from the pesky grains of sand.

”Oh, potatoes— Humans are _disgusting_...” he grumbled as junk of all sorts followed the grains of sand drifting around. He struggled around the murky waters, his mood soured from the sight of all the rubbish.

”All this _nasty_ rubbish...”

———

George popped out of the striking turquoise car after his guardian, clutching the bucket with care. The two— or three had finally arrived at their places, in a parking lot with lots of lush flowered bushes thriving around.

“Be good, alright? Take care of Dream too, see ya muffin.” Bad patted George’s head, which caused his white sunglasses to drop over his eyes.

”Mhm!” responded George, pulling them back up on his head for his stylish look. He began walking toward his school, just about to pass through the greenhouse his guardian worked at.

”What are you up to now, George?” scoffed Ponk as he was watering one of his lemon trees. He was one of the main coworkers at the greenhouse. He was still salty after George had almost set his lemon trees aflame after accidentally tipping over a torch. But the boy couldn’t really remember when that happened.

”Not now, Ponk, I’m concentrating...” George responded dryly, concentrating into his bucket as he held it with care. 

Finally, he made it over to the school property he attended at. He slipped through the gaps of the old wooden fencegate separating the two buildings, making sure his green pail would be alright too. He stood back up, and darted over to a leafy bush, placing the bucket down in it.

”I’ll be right back, okay Dream?” he informed his friend who nodded back quietly. George took off on his own, looking around for something. “I wonder if there are any cats around here...”

The boy bent down to pick up a giant green leaf, and came back to his friend who’d been waiting in the bucket patiently.

”I told you I’d be back. Now stay put, okay Dream? I’ll come back soon.” reassured the dark-haired boy, looking down to his friend. He placed the leaf just over the open space of the pail, pushed it carefully into the bush, and he stood back up to toss himself over to his school grounds.

George slowly crept into his classroom, where lots of energy filled the room. Kids playing with clay, or making banner art at the other table, and even at the other side of the room dwelled children jabbing at each other with their pointless wooden swords. He waited at the doorway hesitantly, studying the overwhelming energy and chaos all taking place inside the room.

“Good morning, George!” greeted a tall figure, his teacher who found him at the doorway.

”Hullo,” he replied awkwardly, and his teacher soon took off hastily, about to tend to a child that somehow got ahold of flint and steel and was waving it around.

The boy was just about to take this bare moment to finally prance away when suddenly—

“George!”

”Oh, hullo Tommy!” responded George, taken by surprise by the child who’d just approached him.

It was none other than Tommy, the troublemaker in his grade. The boy in front of him spun around in his red and white tee clumsily.

”Look at my new hair! Mum fixed it up for me!” he gloated, bouncing up and down to show off his blonde hair to George.

It may have looked like cool new hair for Tommy, but to George, he looked kind of bald. He wanted to turn away, when he was approached by another kid.

”Hey, George. Let’s go play!” a boy with fluffy hair and a green dress shirt expressed, cradling his bee plushie in his arms and hopping around excitedly. It was Tubbo.

”Sorry, can’t now...I’m busy!” George told the two friends in front of him, as he shook his head and crumpled his blue tee with his fists nervously.

”You’re not busy, you’re like— eight!” retaliated Tommy, hissing with his braces at George.

”Well, I have a job!”

“That’s kinda weirdchamp.” Tommy scoffed, and he held his friend’s hand so they could walk off together just like cool kids.

”See ya, George!” chipped in Tubbo, walking away with his friend.

George took this opportunity to finally dart out of the school while its doors were still opened for the kids coming in, to come check on his friend. He rushed over to the bushes, only to see Dream...limp. He was drifting around in the water lazily and lifelessly. Ripe tears started to form in the boy’s eyes.

_“Dream!”_

**“Dream!”** he cried out.

Fortunately, Dream yawned awake and popped up, just over the surface of the water, calmly spurting water onto his friend’s face. The boy smiled in relief, and those tears turned into happy tears.

“Dream, you’re alright! I was so worried!” He giggled lightheartedly.

”George, whatcha doing over there?”

He turned around to face Tommy once again.

”Oh, Tommy! Nothing to see here.”

”Woah, what’s that in your hands?” Tommy asked, now interested in what his classmate was hiding and doing out of the classroom. George pulled away silently, pushing the pail into the bush gently to hide and protect it.

”C’mon, let’s see!”

George slowly pulled out of the lush bush in defeat, still clutching onto the bucket tightly.

”Fine, fine, look but don’t touch, okay?”

Tommy hopped on his rugged shoes excitedly, looking down into the bucket to see the smiling blob. It stared at the strange child before him, and he turned away just as he did with the crumb. The child clenched his braces and wrinkled his face sourly.

”It looks so weird! It looks just like the fish my friend Tubbo ate the other da—“

Dream felt insulted, and immediately spit out puffs of water at Tommy, ruining his hair and soaking his tee. George stared, dumbfounded, and he attempted to hide his snickers as the water that ruined his hair had actually made him look at least less bald now and better than before.

Tommy’s brows furrowed as his face grimaced, and then he broke out into cries, or screams, really.

**“WaAaaAAAAA!!!!”**

George took this moment to scoot him and Dream away, over to a leafy area of bushes that were tall enough to hide himself behind from.

"Sorry about that, Dream. That was Tommy's fault, and you should never judge others from their looks," he told his friend, who had a smug smile on his face, "Yeah, his face was priceless! You were so brave to stand up for yourself!"

Looking to his side, he saw a familiar area of cauldrons with water sprouts around.

"Let's go get you some more water."

He drew toward the area, and placed down the bucket carefully into one of the cauldrons. It seemed like the water hooks were jammed tight with gunk, and George pried around the faucet handles, only to lunge his way forward from suddenly loosening it. The pail fell over, the water all draining down into the drain, pulling the blob with it from the quick currents.

Dream was frantically trying to swim against the current, with George equally frantic as well as he picked up his friend into his hands, pouring all the gushing water into the pail. He placed his friend back into the calm waters.

"Dream!"

The blob popped out of the water, squirting water from his derpy smile into George's face, letting him know that he was all fine. George giggled relieved, as his friend swam eagerly into circles in the new waters.

"Hey, I hear George again! Or maybe I'm going crazy, must be the late night songwriting."

"I told you you needed to let yourself rest for once!"

The boy trailed over to the voices that addressed him, noticing that he had gone far out over to the greenhouse property. He peeked his head from one of the rose bushes, poking his sunglasses back onto his head as they'd slipped. 

It was Wilbur and Niki, Bad's friends from the place they worked at. They both sat together laughing on the dark oak flats, surrounded by bushels of flowers in their terracotta pots, along with a couple of bags of soil sitting around too.

"Oh, there's George!"

The dark-haired boy pulled out from the bushes, continuing to carry his friend.

"Hullo Wilbur," he greeted awkwardly.

"Hey, George! What's that you've got there?" asked Niki, glancing over at the bucket interested.

Wilbur suddenly pulled out a huge acoustic guitar out of nowhere, striking a guitarist pose.

"Wanna be one of the first people to listen to my newest song?" he offered eagerly, "It's about squids!"

"You and your dumb songs." his friend teased.

George finally spoke.

"Actually...I've got something to show you guys!"

The two friends sitting leaned over interested, literally on the edge of their seats.

"But first...guess what colour he is!" he told them, not noticing his fishy friend peeking out from the bucket shyly, his dotty eyes glancing at the friendly-looking people before him. It looked like he could trust them.

"Hmm..." Niki pretended to think as she and her musical friend had seen the slight shy glance of the blob before them.

"He's...he's white!" piped up Wilbur. 

George nodded, "Mhm! Wait...how do you guys both guess that?"

"Let's see him!" the girl chipped in.

The boy lifted up his bucket, showing his friend to the two as Dream smiled at them, knowing they were friendly.

"This is Dream! He really likes to eat porkchops, and he can do magic!" the boy explained, "Like this morning-- I got a cut on my thumb, now it's gone," he continued, "Because he licked it!"

Niki and Wilbur were delighted at the wonderful sight of George's new friend.

"Maybe he can lick me, to get me some ideas for what should rhyme with _wolves_ ," the man in the beanie chuckled.

Niki remarked, "He's a very handsome boi."

Dream blushed a little, flattered at the delightful words of praise from the two.

"What are you up to now, George?"

Another guy had popped in-- Ponk, who was suspicious of what antics the boy was up to.

"Here," George lifted his pail up to show the guy his blob friend.

Ponk pulled back.

"Oh gosh-- It has a wicked, evil smile!" he cried out, creeped out by the fish, "Put it back in the ocean where it belongs!"

"Don't be so ridiculous, Ponk. Dream is a very handsome boi." retorted Niki.

"Just wait and see what it'll do!"

Dream, feeling offended, immediately bolted out of the bucket, spitting water into the man's face. George watched, dumbfounded once again, at the sudden movement as Ponk's face grimaced from being soaked in water.

"Gah! Oh, George, put it _back,_ where it _belongs!_ "

Bad noticed all the commotion at the wooden flats, rushing over to help.

"Woah, what's happening over here?"

George, feeling ashamed, bolted out of the grassy area, bolting all the way down the road in a clutch, down the spruce staircases to a dark cove of rocks. Silverfish all crept and scattered out of the way, making way of the boy tossing himself over to a closed off area. 


	2. M-U-F-F-I-N-H-E-A-D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh oh angst time
> 
> Empty Bucket - Joe Hisaishi
> 
> Flash Signal - Joe Hisaishi

George squatted down in the murky cove, while he peered down into his bucket. Drops of water plopped down from above in the rocky area.

”George!” called out a familiar voice from above. It was Bad, who was rushing all over the place to seek out the boy.

He was slightly frustrated by what the boy had done, splashing water over at his co-worker, Ponk, who was meanwhile continuing to fuss bitterly. He really didn’t want to believe that he did this. 

_”George!”_

_”Come back here and apologise, you muffin!”_

The addressed boy, down in the rocks, decided it would be best to hide out and dwell down in the cove for now, at least.

”Don’t worry, Dream. I will protect you,” George declared solemnly to his friend below, who was looking up curiously. He wore his same charming smile.

”I promise.”

_”George!”_

The boy gasped, wondering what had addressed him, only to look down at Dream babbling his name. His eyes sparkled, soon followed by a beaming smile.

”George!”

The named boy nodded, “Mhm!” he pointed to his friend, “Dream,” and then over to himself, “George!”

”Dream... **LOVES** George!” piped up the blob, and he happily flipped himself over and over in the bucket.

Gushing water splashed all around George, but he went unfazed.

Finally, George leaned over to his friend.

“I will love you too.” he spoke, Dream still excitedly splashing around.

”Dream **LOVES** George!!!”

The happy little blob pranced around in the water, leaping in and out in pure joy. His friend giggled beside him lightheartedly.

Down deeper in the dark currents just about near the murky cove emerged a salmon-haired man, Technoblade. He held strange thin shells in his hand— prismarine shards.

As he dropped them into the waters, they all suddenly made up the same strange bursts of inkfish-like waves.

The mysterious currents narrowed their unsettling eyes onto the boy and his bucket— stalking toward them and gushing throughout the now shallower shore.

George looked up, hearing a strange funneling sound of the waves suddenly hitting high tide all of a sudden— only to meet the piercing gaze of the same strange bursts of waves. He clutched his green pail in his fists tightly.

Before he could run, the waves had all engulfed them in the cove, George being helpless and confused while he tried to keep a good grip.

The sudden rough currents all churned around as they had caught ahold of the bucket, forcing him to loose his hold with Dream being pulled and slipping away back into the ocean.

The looming waves slipped back into the sea quickly, the strange man leading them back down as well. In the murky rocks, the boy was left soaked.

He tried to process what had gone on with the tide, when he’d realized that the bucket was gone.

**TW: mentions of drowning**

”Dream!” George cried out frantically, heading toward the open sea to try and retrieve his friend. He lunged deeper and deeper into the colder waters.

**“Dream!”**

He found the bucket drifting along with the waves, taking it back into his hands. He looked back into it desperately, only for him to meet an empty bucket.

**“Dream...”**

Going deeper and deeper down, George noticed his feet starting to loose the feeling of the seafloor— realizing he’d gone so far out.

The gushing waters approaching over him were getting colder and colder. He shivered helplessly as he desperately ripped through the rough tides.

Waves started to pass over his head, but he still attempted to fight through.

_He didn’t care if he were to drown— he **needed** to save **Dream.**_

Bad noticed the frantic cries of George from below, and leaned over one of the spruce log fences overlooking the ocean.

He saw the boy going deep through the current, as waves started to pass over his head. Not missing a second, the hooded guy immediately rushed down the steep rocks to rescue the helpless boy.

He finally paced himself through the cold deep sea, the seagrass catching onto his dark trousers.  
Picking the boy up over his shoulder, Bad took the green bucket into his other arm, making his way toward the rocky shore.

George sobbed and shivered over the warm protective arms of his guardian, who was now taking him back, _thumping_ over the steep cobblestone stair-like pathway.

**END OF TW**

———

Silence filled the car on the drive back home. It was an awkward trip— George chewing on baked potatoes silently while Bad focused on the wheel, equally quiet as well.

Finally, Bad spoke.

”You know, George...It could be for the best,” he started, “Maybe Dream wasn’t meant to live among us humans. He _is_ a blob— or a fish, and the ocean’s his real home...”

George seemed to be ignoring the lecture, continuing to chew on the mushy potatoes while the thought of his friend distracted him.

”You tried your best, though.”

He’d only met Dream this morning— but he _knew_ that things shouldn’t have ended his way.He met such an intriguing and delightful friend, but he lost him in the clutch of the waves.

_Was he really being...irresponsible? To lose his friend...just like that._   
  


“Anyway...we’re heading home now. Let’s hope that awful _muffinhead’s_ gone now, ya know?” Bad continued, chuckling weakly as to try and lighten the mood.

But he felt like his words weren’t enough to help the devastated boy out in any bit.

“Can I have a bite?” Bad asked, turning to George who had been sitting in silence next to him. George slowly offered up the potato to his guardian.

”Hurry ya muffin, it’s starting to cool!”

Bad took a small bite out of the tasty baked spud, and shifted himself back to his driving.

”Skeppy’s favourite—“ commented the man, “Me too!”

The car passed by a shrubbery of bushes, finally about to come back up to the driveway of their home.

”I’m really sorry, George. I really am. But Skeppy’s coming home tonight, and you can tell him _all_ about Dream!”

———

Shortly after the gleaming bright turquoise vehicle had pulled into the driveway, George hopped out of the car, stepping onto the squishy and soft mycelium.

Their home on the mycelium-lined cliff was a spruce cabin-like dwelling— low steeping dark oak roofs and over at the top sat a few dormer roofs with slanted roofs and single stained panes of glass in the centers of them.

Giant red polka-dotted mushrooms popped around the corners of the house and in the walls. Panels of stained glass lined up around the walls of the house as well.

He began to make his way toward the edge of their cliff, but quickly led the spruce door back open for Bad— who was pacing in and out for the groceries.

A stalk of dried kelp hopped up and down from the bag. Just as Bad was about to head in for his last trip into the house for today, he peeked his head over from the doorframe.

”No more ocean today, okay?”

”Mm-hm.”

George picked up his toy wood boat into his arms, eventually turning to face the open shimmering sea before him while the sun seeped down slowly.   
He rested his hand onto the face of the upright log in the old fence gate, looking down at the rocks, thinking about how he’d first met Dream.

With a small _clunk,_ the green pail was slung onto the fence gate by the boy.

”George?”

It was Bad calling him again.

”George? It’s time to come back in ya muffin, ‘kay?” he told George with a soft smile.

The boy finally spoke up, “Maybe if I leave this bucket here, Dream will know where we live...If he ever comes back.”

”Do that. I think that’s a lovely thing to do for Dream!” the hooded guy remarked gingerly.

”Mhm!”

Feeling all the hope restored, the boy headed back into the house as he tucked his boat into his arms with a content smile.

———

Bad kept himself occupied at the kitchen in its warm yellow terracotta walls, wearing a colourful mess of an apron that Skeppy had patched up for him. A few smokey mushrooms poked out of flowerpots, and warm lanterns hung around the house.

He worked at the stove, checking the baked potatoes in the furnace oven every so often, and preparing the dried kelp as a side for their family dinner tonight.

George was also busy, sitting on the floor by the living room’s coffee table with a few pieces of paper and blue crayons laid out. He had been drawing his friend, trying to get his smile right with the broken down crayons.

The house telephone rang with a few noteblock jingles.

_Ring-ring!_

_Ring-ring!_

“George, could you come get that? It should be Skeppy.” asked Bad, who was washing his hands in the cauldron’s gushing waters.

The boy followed, heading to the wooden counter table with its cluttered bookshelves on the wall and underneath— promptly picking up the jittering telephone. He held it to his cheek.

”Hullo?” he greeted awkwardly.

”Heya George! It’s me, Skeppy!”

”Oh! Are you at the docks?”

”Bad news, I can’t make it home tonight. I’ve gotta do another run,” admitted Skeppy in defeat, “But!” he perked up, “I can signal ya guys when we pass! Mind telling Bad for me?”

”No...I think you should go tell him.”  
  


Not missing a beat, George handed the phone over to his guardian, who’d been excitedly waiting to talk to his friend. He pranced back over to the coffee table, continuing to scribble around the paper.

”Hey, ya muffin! How are you?” Bad piped up.

”Weeeellll, I can’t make it home tonight with another run to do, but I can signal ya guys when I—“

Bad cut him off mid-sentence.

”What?!

Oh my goodness, too many times in a row, Skeppy!” he shouted, frustrated,

“Go ahead, abandon your friend and George here on top of a cliff to go and live at sea.”

Hearing that, George propped up his head at his angry guardian in concern. He stayed quiet.

”Muffinhead!”

Bad slammed the telephone back onto the counter. He ripped his colourful apron off, tossing it onto the counter over the phone as well.

“Come on, George. Let’s get out of here!”

”What if Dream comes back...?”

Not wanting to interfere, Bad shook his head, and turned to the fridge behind him, throwing the iron door open somehow. He pulled out an old muffin from the shelf, only for it to crumble into a million crumbs before his eyes.

”AAAGH!”

———

George stood at the balcony on the warm evening, looking through the rusty copper telescope for any signs of Skeppy. He wore his yellow leather cap, the same one he always wore that made him really feel like a hunter.

Meanwhile, his guardian, Bad, had been lying on the dark oak floor hugging a soft pillow tucked into his arms, with no thoughts and his head empty. He’d had a little over too much potatoes and sad bottles of honey.

George finally saw it— the blinking lights of a patrolling ship passing by, from out in the sea. He pranced over to turn to his guardian, who was still lying down on the floor lazily.

”C’mon Bad!,” he started, “Turn off the lights, Skeppy’s passing by!”

Bad continued to lay down, unfazed.

“Don’t you want to signal him?”

”Uh-uh.” Bad barely made out, still feeling down.

George figured he’d might as well do it himself, and he hopped over Bad to go to the button for the household lights. He pushed it once, making all the redstone lamps’ lights all go out at once. The house was immediately filled with a sleepy dark blue from the evening, encapturing the entire household.

George tilted his leather cap, along with his sunglasses, and continuously flicked the button of a redstone lamp sitting on the balcony— a flash signal.

Skeppy watched the lights of the balcony all the way above from his ship balcony, while he worked the signal as well to talk to the two.

”Hey, lil’ George’s working the signal all by himself!”

”Your friend must be pretty mad.” his crewmate replied bluntly.

” _S-O...R-R...-Y..._ ” George made out from seeing the blinks of the signals before him, “Bad! Skeppy says he’s very sorry!”

He directed his attention to the stacks and stacks of spammed sorry’s before him, and turned back to Bad, who started speaking.

” _B-U-G-O-F-F..._ ” he lead, while George carefully clicked it through. “B-U-G-O-F-F _..._ ”

” _B-U-G...O-F...F..”_ he struggled, trying to keep up with the lead of Bad. The clicking lights on the ship down below caught his attention suddenly, making him stop for a few seconds.

”Bad, Skeppy says he loves you!” he called out to his guardian, who finally sat up, still mad at his friend, while continuing to hug his pillow.

“He says lots and lots!”

Finally, Bad bolted up, rushing over to take over the redstone lamp. From there, he spammed his messages, smacking the button of the signal multiple times. 

M-U-F-F-I-N-H-E-A-D

M-U-F-F-I-N-H-E-A-D

M-U-F-F-I-N-H-E-A-D

M-U-F-F-I-N-H-E-A-D

Skeppy chuckled seeing the messages, knowing it was only his friend being mad again. He shifted himself over to the redstone control panel of the vessel, and fidgeted around the levers and buttons. The entire ship lit up, its colourful redstone lighting up in luminous colours of red and turquoise, for their friendship.

It blinked a few times, and George couldn’t help but gasp out loud, impressed.

”Wow, nice Skeppy!”

Bad, who was beside him, huffed and walked away back into the dark house to crash onto the bed, feeling drained. George decided he’d better carry out at least a few messages before it were to be too late. He went back to the signal, and clicked his message.

 _P-O-G-C-H-A-M-P ,_ signaled George. It was an odd word that Skeppy had always wanted for him to put to good use.

 _T-H-A-N-K-S ,_ Skeppy clicked back.

 _P-O-G,_ signaled back Skeppy. He saluted to George who was meanwhile at the balcony, despite himself being captain.

George saluted to Skeppy, even if they couldn’t see each other. He stepped off of the stool to come back inside, and shut the doors of the balcony for the night.

He flicked for all the lights to come back on, and then sat himself beside his guardian who was still face down on the bed. He was still bummed out, and their calico cat purred and rubbed the side of her face against Bad’s hands in understanding and in an attempt to help him out. 

“It’s okay to cry, Bad,” George began, patting Bad’s head in reassurance, “I know Skeppy breaks his promises sometimes.” But he does his best for us.”

The boy continued solemnly, ”I promised Dream I’d protect him. Then I lost him.

”I wonder if Dream’s crying now...”

Bad turned himself to face George while he listened as he laid down. His eyes sparkled from trying to hold back from sobbing too much. He suddenly grabbed the boy into a tight hug. Their cat got up once again to rest her head onto Bad’s leg, purring.

“aAgh!”

”You are such a _GOOD_ muffin!” Bad expressed, while brushing his knuckles against George’s head into a noogie. He finally bolted up, still tucking George into his arms.

“♪ It’s _muffin time!~ ♪_ ” he sang cheerily, finally feeling upbeat.

”Thank you George— Thank you so much. You did your best, and Dream will be just fine! Alright?”

”Mm-hm—“ mumbled the boy, still helplessly tucked into a warm hug from his guardian.

”I say we go from muffins, and go backwards!” Bad declared gingerly, turning all of the lamps and lanterns on all at once in the house.

“It’s been a backwards kind of day, ya know?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bad and Skeppy’s relationship is platonic in this one! I respect their friendship and I do not ship them.


	3. Dream, not Clay!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D
> 
> Ponyo’s Sisters - Joe Hisaishi
> 
> The Sunflower House in the Storm - Joe Hisaishi
> 
> Ponyo and Sosuke II - Joe Hisaishi

A cave-like dwelling sat just about the surface of the ocean, a few stalks of kelp swaying steadily as a large squid had passed by. Panels of dark prismarine adorned the home, with an abundance of soft sea lanterns darted around, lighting up the area. It was the home of the sorcerer, Technoblade.

”I’ve been too irresponsible to let you be exposed to the magic— and you’re too _young_ to understand,” muttered Technoblade. He’d finally come out to the surface to take back his son, capturing him into a tiny bubble chamber. The blob continued to turn his back away from his father, still upset.

”But you must promise me— you will _never_ go back to the surface, you got that?”

The blob continued to turn his back away from his father, still upset. Technoblade held a piece of golden carrot from his parchment full of them, and carefully poked it into the bubble for his son to eat.

”Come on, now. Eat, Clay.” the man commanded, with the golden carrot just about through.

“I. Want. **PORKCHOPS!** ” the blob exclaimed. He whisked the root veggie away, making it fly all the way onto the floor, hitting it with a soft _thump_. His little brothers all carefully watched from their own bubble chamber— much bigger than the one he was stuck in. They all stayed in place, in a small bundle of blobs.

”Porkchops?! I’ve always admired the humble nature of pigs, but— What else have you gotten yourself into, Clay?!” he uttered, demanding to know, “Did you taste blood?”

“My name is _not_ Clay. It’s Dream!” he stated, drifting aimlessly in the bubble.

His father tilted his head, confused by that odd name. “Dream?”

Hearing his name, Dream finally bolted up with energy.

”Dream! Dream **LOVES** George!” he exclaimed, twirling around in delight at the thought of his friend, “I will be a human _too!_ ”

Technoblade contorted his nose— err, snout, in disgust at the mention of humans. His fingers began to tighten around the parchment he had been holding.

” _Humans?!_ What do you know about humans, Clay?” he started, “They grief the sea! Treating it with _no_ respect— at all.” He hoisted his head up, remembering an old memory that had now popped up in his head.

”I was once a human myself,” the sorcerer admitted, “But I had to leave that all behind to serve as an admin of the sea!”

Dream seemed to pay no attention at all, distracted by his own bustling plans and thoughts.

”Hands, I want _HANDS!_ I don’t want these _flippers_ anymore!” Dream expressed, whisking around his flippers.

His father attempted to keep himself from snapping, as he felt himself feel steamed up from holding back. He scrunched his eyes closed as his son had been rambling on.

“I want feet, like _George’s!_ ”

Finally, Technoblade gave into his frustration.

”That’s _enough!_ ”

The blob began to bunch up pressure into his flippers, straining. His father watched with anticipation and worry, unsure with what would happen next.

Finally— Dream sprouted out blobby marshmallow-like arms. The wizard held his hands to his head frustrated, the parchment full of golden carrots dropping onto the floor. More and more of his little brothers gathered, all scrunched up together to see what would happen next. They broke into various eager squeaks, encouraging their big brother.

The blob continued to push pressure onto his flippers— and he eventually made himself a pair of cursed stout legs which added to his entirely cursed demeanor.

”I made _hands!_ Feet too!” exclaimed the blob, happily, “ _Yes!_ ”

”No, no!” Technoblade steamed, “You _have_ tasted human blood!”

”I’m going to _GEORGE!_ ” beamed the blob, jumping up in down inside of the small space. He ran around the walls of the bubble chamber, trying to free himself.

The father grew frustrated, and rushed himself over to the small bubble. Pressing both of his hands firmly around it, he griped,

“Revert, revert! Stop that, _now!”_

He carried on, squeezing his hands tightly over the bubble. It didn’t help, as it only encouraged for Dream to attempt push himself through the gaps of his fingers.

”Stop it, stop it, _stop it_ — _**DON’T** change!”_

The sorcerer knew this wouldn’t help at all, so he left himself go off away from the bubble. Excited chatters of Dream’s little brothers grew, giving him encouraging squeaks to go free. Technoblade headed to the nearby shelf, grabbing two potions from the cluttered mess of potion bottles.

“Let me out, let me _OUT!_ ”

The sorcerer chugged the potions at the same time— potions of regeneration to restore his son, and strength to strengthen his magic bond. He wiped away at his mouth with his sleeve, staining it into colours of a murky puddle, and headed back to his son. Dream was meanwhile not giving up on his attempts to escape, jumping and shoving wherever he could, for his way out of the bubble.

Taking his two hands, Technoblade held the bubble in place— his hands gently hovering over it, as if they were gliding.

“Be still, be still, be still now...” murmered the man, deeply concentrated.

Dream promptly began to shrink and shrink, until he’d reverted back to his original blob form. He drifted aimlessly and lazily in the now smaller bubble, while the squeaks of his little blob brothers had finally died down. The man held the bubble, going toward their bubble-like aquarium home.

All of the tiny children immediately fled back into their dwelling holes in the their mountain-like chunk of rock, as the man came forward. He popped Dream back in, who was still encased inside his own chamber, and he sighed.

“He’s already so powerful, just like his _grandfather,_ ” sighed Technoblade, “If only you could listen. I must now ask for my own father’s assistance.”

He tucked the now empty glasses snug into his arms, deciding he would go into his study room for the night, for a _very_ important responsibility. However, he noticed something _strange—_ sniffing out a weird thick residue throughout the air. The floor was snug and sticky too, and he looked down at what had been poking his feet.

_Slimes._

Slimes of all sizes hopped in through the waterfall door of their cave dwelling, all going at a steady pace, headed toward the study room. It looked like they’d all managed to spawn in through the humid and moist conditions of the main room, and Technoblade began to fuss.

”Oh, potatoes,” he scowled, “They’re headed for my potato farms!...And my potions too, I guess.”

Struggling to poke his boots through the mob consumed gaps of the floor, he darted through the herds and herds of slimes, finally darting down the stairs to his mess of a storage room.

”Calm, I’ve gotta stay _calm.”_ the wizard told himself out loud, “When I think about meeting _him,_ I feel awfully too nervous— right, now, get yourself back to work.”

The empty potion bottles were soon stuffed into the packed ice lined fridge, and he _slammed_ the iron door shut. He hopped over the fallen wooden barrels on the floor he’d promised himself to clean up, careful not to trip over any, but that was months ago.

The man finally arrived into his well anticipated study room, carefully holding onto an ancient terracotta vase.

“At least there aren’t any leaks here.” he muttered in satisfaction, observing the room. Wooden barrels were lined up just against the walls, gaps filled with flower pots and sea mushrooms. A random piece of wool sat on the floor beside one of the rows of barrels that he had decided would be his temporary bed months before, but still happened to be.

Rickety armour stands stood around, all dressed in different outfits, but always resembling his current style. His study desk was filled with papers and blueprints, a thin piece of parchment laid atop them all filled with doodles of something that looked like a tube.

The man headed to a bare wall, where dials for a safe were settled on. He used his free arm to twist the dials to its certain pattern, and he finally unlocked it, while he struggled to get the old door unstuck. He hopped into the secret space, leaving the safe’s door to be slightly ajar. He tugged his cloak away from the floor, where leather-lined books had caught onto.

”I mustn’t let _any_ living creature get into here.”

Technoblade bent down and squatted onto the floor awkwardly from his tall height contrasting to the cramped space of the safe, finally lifting up the vase. A deep— maybe even bottomless pit sat in front of him, another one of those magical wells. Ancient terracotta vases just like the one he was now lifting leaned against the wall, all bearing old smeared paintings resembling different biomes.  
  


Tilting the vase downwards, he poured its magical contents down into the depths of the well. The slow seeping serum flowing down actually had reached the bottom of the well, and a soft strange glow of the serum began to emerge. The last few drops of the elixir had finally _dripped_ down just like flowing molasses, and the man took the vase forward to himself just before the last drop could go through.

He took the tip of the container to his mouth, sipping its last contents and he immediately stiffened himself up from the sudden bitter taste, holding back from spitting it out. He finally swallowed it, and propped his head back up.

”Oh, yes. The power of the admin, it’s _coursing_ through my veins.” Technoblade declared, feeling it rise like a light within himself.

He turned back around, sliding himself out of the safe, and he pushed his own weight against the barely-budging door.

”Gah, this _potato’d_ door!”

After hopping onto his personal vessel, he coursed out to sea to another important sea mission as an ocean admin, through the deep depths on the ship’s flippers.

———

One of Dream’s little brothers treaded toward the aimlessly floating bubble, where Dream laid lazily in. The tiny blob had started to nibble around the bubble, then a few of his other little siblings came over to help out. They all munched around the outer coating of the bubble, followed by more and more tiny blobs coming over to help out until—

_Pop._

Dream finally broke out free from the now popped bubble. Little squeaks of delight came from his tiny brothers as he finally sprouted out his cursed demeanor of blobby arms and legs. The tiny blobs scattered around, playfully swimming around his arms and legs and cheering him on.

”Let’s go find _GEORGE!_ ” the big brother expressed, and he hopped over to the walls of their bubble chamber home. He sliced out a circle out of the thick wall, kicking it out with the boot of his blobby leg.

Water from their home immediately gushed out through the hole, dragging Dream along with his little brothers with it. He climbed up the wall on his stout legs, up to the waterfall entrance, and broke the few blocks around it that prevented the door from flooding. This welcomed the now rushing current from the sea, while codfish swam through as well.

It was no doubt their dwelling was now flooded with gushing waters. Dream was having fun with his brothers, trashing the home of their fathers’ after he had rejected his happiness, and he hopped around the waters now flowing over to the other rooms.

The rushing waves pulled them all into their father’s now watery study room, while the blob did his best to not get carried away by the waves. He caught onto the wall on a dial, trying to hold his grip onto it, but the dials started to loosen and twist around the more he had clutched onto it tight.

A baby squid leapt onto Dream’s face as the now ajar door dragged him in away from the rough waters, where water began to now seep in as well down into a dark pit— a _well._ The lively waves caused the well to open up a kind of strange _enchantment_ , spewing up a marvelous golden substance seeping out of the well, just like molasses.

Its enchantment pulled Dream into the shallow depths of the well, and he swam his way back up— fastening himself onto the very walls of it. There was a strange tingling feeling within himself, some sort of enchantment’s work.

He looked down at his hands, 1,2,3– no, _5 marvelous fingers!_ He lifted up his legs, admiring the new bare feet just like his friend’s. Dream took his hair into his hand, feeling the muddy blonde locks of them. He lifted up his baggy white tee slightly. A _bellybutton!_

Dream’s eyes sparkled in delight, his tiny brothers now gathering around, amazed at his new form. They were just as delighted as him, being happy for him that he was finally— _human._

The boy hopped onto a giant golden codfish that had found its way in, and he drifted out of the safe, while other giant fish just like his ride made way for him. He was now _human,_ just about thriving in the live open sea.

Making his way out of the now trashed home, he rose from the cold sea higher and _higher,_ his little brothers scattered around with the giant golden fish following as well. He felt the sea brushing past him gently from the upwards force. The tiny blobs had started to aline into a perfect line on the sides of Dream.

Dream bunched up pressure within himself in the now quick waters, full of rough tensions, his fists squeezed tight as well.

” _FREEEEEE!!!!”_ cried out the boy, finally letting go the pressure. It caused for his all of his little brothers to turn into ones with the sea— giant golden waterfish that would help guide his way to George. They all released themselves over the surface of the now lively sea, shooting up into the bare air.

”It’s a watersprout!” Ant yelled, trying to brace himself on the rocking vessel over the swift current. He nearly let go his clutch on the ship’s copper telescope, feeling very dizzy. He clutched his cat-like hood over his head and cried out, “It might even be a tsunami!”

Having cat-like senses, he knew what to expect when the weather seemed off.

Another crewmate, Sam, shouted desperately to a man, “Captain, our redstone is getting washed out! We’ve got to do something!” He helplessly tried to save the now failed contraptions, trying to protect them from the roaring waters sliding in and out of the boat.

The addressed captain seemed to be paying no attention at all, gazing at _something_ in the sea while he was braced on the ship’s docks.

”It’s a little boy...” uttered Skeppy, bewildered at the sight. Water from the ocean splashed around the ship, soaking him a bit while he remained unfazed. Dream was hopping around the fish-shaped bursts of waves, a _human_ thriving in the dangerous sea. He soon disappeared in the waters, making his way with the guidance of his brothers.

“Looks like he’s about _George’s_ age.”

———

Heavy raindrops poured over the cove guarded sea town. It was uncommon to have harsh weather like this in the normally calm-weathered region.

Children came bustling out of their bricky school building, shielding themselves from the drops under their fruitful umbrellas. One boy in a teal raincoat stayed at the dry doorway, anticipating for a bit.

”George, I’ll come call Bad over to come pick you up, okay?” the teacher offered, about to pull out the phone.

”No, that’s alright,” replied George awkwardly, “I’ll take the shortcut, goodbye miss!”

”Bye, George!” she waved, “Be careful out there, okay?

George gave a thumbs up on the way out, and he pulled his hood over his head as he stepped out into the rough rainstorm outside. He carefully stepped over the deep mud puddles on the ground, making his way toward the old wooden fence gate to the greenhouse. He unlatched it, and closed it as he got to the other area where Bad would be.

The dark-haired boy made his way around the corner of the building with its familiar glass and terracotta panels lined with dark oak. There weren’t many plants around to see, them all being carried away inside, or probably the wind itself.

A few gusts of wind nearly knocked him off his feet as he dived underneath the striped tarp of the greenhouse, where a few drops of water seeped through the pencil-sized holes above. He pushed open the dark oak door, where it was finally dry, but also very dark indoors.

He pulled off his hood, waiting at the doorway while water dripped down onto the wooden floorboards. George watched as many of the apron-wearing coworkers rushed around the building, carrying cartons and flowerpots, some even dragging away heavy bags of soil. He finally recognized a friendly figure not carrying anything like the others coming toward him. It was Bad.

”Hey, George!” Bad greeted.

”Hullo.”

”Sorry about the wait, but stay calm, alright?” he told the boy, patting his head, which ruffled his dark hair a bit. He didn’t mind too much this time, quietly wiping his face dry with the cloth his guardian had handed him. A coworker of Bad’s poked his head out from the corner, looking at the two.

”Bad, if your shift’s over, you know you can go ahead home.” Sapnap informed his friend, while he himself had stacks of bags of soil settled in his arms. He had his same white headband around his head, the same colour of his apron.

”Wait! Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

”Well, I _could_ take your place in going home if you want...” his friend winked jokingly.

Bad rolled his eyes teasingly. “Fine, fine.” he responded, “But let me go help you out with that!”

His guardian dipped over to help out Sapnap, immediately taking about half of the bags of soil into his own arms, and they walked off to the storage center together to drop them off.

George made his way towards the clearing of the greenhouse, where a few chairs sat around a couple of workers on their breaks. The rain poured above him onto the foggy glass roof, but he knew that the glass would be strong enough to endure anything.

“Here, Wilbur,” George spoke, taking something out of his pocket, “I’ve got something for you.” He placed it into the man’s hand.

”Is that you, George? Thanks!” Wilbur thanked him, taking the offering.

”You too, Niki,” George offered, pressing it into her hand to not let it slip away.

Niki smiled happily, accepting it.

”Thanks! But I’m not sure what this is, it’s too dark to see...”

George was about to speak, until he’d heard a voice from the jukebox radio.

”Strange wea..ther event...mild..mostly even medium..hurricane,” it made out, static interfering with the weatherman’s words. It was shut off suddenly, and the boy looked up to see Ponk, grumpy as always.

”Why are we still here at work? I just want to go home and see my precious indoor lemon tree.” Ponk murmured. He was sitting in a tall chair away from the others. George came over to him slowly as to not fall while it was still dark, as well.

”Ponk, here.”

The boy dug into his other coat pocket, pulling out a gift for the man and placing it into Ponk’s hand.

”What—What’s this?”

Suddenly, George felt a warm glow just about from behind him. Wilbur appeared, holding a warm burning lantern.

”Here, I’ve lit this lamp! It’s not much light, but it’ll do,” he told them, and he held the light over his other hand, “Hey, it’s a jacket potato!” Wilbur expressed, immediately digging in to devour it.

”Woah, eat it slowly to enjoy it longer!” Niki stared in utter _fear_ , while her friend had been devouring his potato hastily. She chewed on her mushy baked potato, enjoying it with delight.

Ponk stared into his hand through the subtle light Wilbur held. “Woah, where’d you get this?” he asked the boy. He was given a slice of melon.

”I dunno.”

The man chowed down on the sweet fruit, admittedly enjoying it.

”I guess melons are second place to lemons.” he admitted, suddenly forgetting about what he’d been grumpy about a minute ago. George watched in satisfaction, smiling a little bit.

”Okay, you muffin! Let’s get going now, ‘kay? I’ll be waiting outside in the car.” his guardian popped in, and he headed outside to his car.

Wilbur addressed the boy. “See ya, George,” he told him.

“What about you guys?” George asked, a bit worried.

”Don’t worry. We’ve got our potatoes— and melon, and at least we have a little light too.” Niki chimed in, still enjoying hers slowly. The boy nodded, heading over back to the entrance of the greenhouse, catching a glimpse of their bright turquoise car.

”Be careful the wind doesn’t blow you away!” Ponk called out. George gave a thumbs up on his way out. “Bye!”

“Slide in,” Bad told the boy, who did so, promptly, “We’ve got a rough way ahead of us.”

His guardian started the car slowly, warming it up, and he finally got it pacing steadily onto the puddle-ful rocky road. It looked slippery with all of the rain coming through, but Bad was confident that he could get through it.

George leaned over at the window, gazing at the open playful sea at his side. “The ocean looks so puffed up...” he noted quietly.

The vehicle rushed its way over the main road of the seaside town, while the two could feel the rain hammering above onto the roof of their car. It looked like the fishermen had abandoned the spruce docks a while ago, sensing this storm would happen. The tall trees’ leaves all swayed in the wind, as if they were to be literally blown off of their hinges.

Patches of wind by the docks swirled around, causing the fishing boats and vessels tied tight to the logs with leads to rock around unevenly. Normal waves leapt in and out of the sea, until George noticed something that had caught his eye, a wave that looked _just_ like a giant codfish.

”The boats...won’t they all sink out there?” George asked.

”Don’t worry, they won’t...they go out to sea,” Bad responded, “And that’s what Skeppy and his crewmates are doing, right now.”

The car came to an abrupt stop as Bad noticed two people in their neon yellow work uniforms just about in front of him. He popped open the window, as the two people rushed over to the window.

”Stop! Bad, you can’t go any further!” one warned, waving around their bright striped banners.

The other person chimed in, “It’s too dangerous! Turn back, go to the Inn!”

“You should be worrying about the greenhouse, not me,” Bad replied bluntly, “It’s where the town gets its produce from.”

”It’ll be fine there, the glass should be durable enough,” one of the workers stated, “But you’ve got to get out of here!”

”Okay, but I need to get going home.” protested Bad, already starting the car to go backwards steadily.

”No, you’re making a terrible mistake!”

Bad ignored the two, focused on what was in front of him. Flat cascades of water blocked his way, until they pulled back into the ocean. He waited, waiting until he was sure that _all_ of the nearby water had stocked up into the sea.

”Hold on, you muffin.”

George braced himself in his seat. His guardian stepped on it, dragging slowly through the road while torrents of water crashed to where the vehicle was. He used it to his advantage, using the water to pull them back up onto the road quickly onto their way home.

The kid continued to watch the lively ocean, the fish waves leaping around, starting to draw closer to them.

”The codfish are following us now!” he commented.

”Get your seatbelt on, you muffin!”

Bursts of water leapt around the car, splattering everywhere from the motion of the vehicle. The sparkling car spun and twisted around while water caught ahold of it. It finally caught itself back up front, using its boost from the water to take its way over to upwards near the mountain route.

The boy watched as the fish-like waves drew nearer and nearer toward them as they passed the roaring ocean. Suddenly— he caught sight of something in the distant waves, _someone._ It was a boy just about his age, in a baggy white tee and dirty blonde hair hopping over the fish-like waves. He seemed familiar, somehow.

Dream pranced around the ocean, following a sparkling car he _knew_ would lead him to George. His little brothers had helped guide him all the way here. He leapt around, dodging any waves that would crash onto him while he kept his green eyes onto the car. Finally, he saw it— the same dark-haired boy who had rescued him, _George._

George continued to watch the boy, intrigued at how he was able to prance around the sea so freely. The dirty blonde boy parkoured around the tossing waves, their eyes still both kept on each other. Suddenly, the fish-like wave brought itself over to behind the car.

The dark-haired boy looked behind him, seeing as a wave had just tossed itself over to follow them. He kept his eyes on the familiar kid following them, and the boy smiled back at him as he continued to dash around, following them. George’s eyes sparkled, amazed.

A rough torrent of wind passed over the rushing waves, knocking the boy off of the waters he was leaping around on, pulling him back into the sea. George stood up.

”Bad! The little boy— he just fell in!”

His guardian stopped the car abruptly. He popped himself out of the car, clutching his hood over his head while rain and wind spewed everywhere. George followed, almost jumping out of the car in excitement.

”Where, George?” he asked, “ _Where_ did you see a little boy?”

“He was running on top of a _huge_ codfish, then he fell in!”

Bad doubted the idea of that. “That’s impossible, but we’ve got to go, _now!_ ”

A puff of air came flying against George, sweeping him off of his feet. He was about to fall into the ocean, the wind pullimg him in, but a hand grabbed ahold of his hand.

His guardian grunted, trying to hold on tight and pull him back to him. He managed to grab ahold of the boy, and shoved him into the car along with himself, and he immediately went off in the car.

”There was no little boy out there, George, okay?” he reassured him, but that didn’t change what George had sworn he’d seen. He stayed put in his seat, trying to calm down from how he’d literally been swept off of his feet by the puff of wind.

Finally, their gleaming turquoise vehicle had reached their driveway. Just as the car was about to come to a stop, one of the few weaker drafts of wind pulled the green bucket off of the fence gate it had rested on. George noticed it, as its hollow _clunks_ clunked down the driveway.

A puff of wave had managed to make its way all the way up to the mycelium-chipped driveway. A pale hand reached out, grasping ahold of the bucket as it had almost gotten lost in the waters. The wave washed out, and out came the familiar boy, clutching the bucket, not actually noticing the two people in front of him.

”There _is_ a little boy out there!” Bad gasped, “Come here, we’ll help you!” he offered his help, holding out his hand. “Here, take my hand, and it’ll be alright, okay you muffin?”

The boy darted past Bad who was about to scoop him up but was left confused. George watched as the boy in his white tee lunged toward him, then—

He threw himself onto George, as if they had known each other for a long time. He hugged George tight, while he was still a bit confused, pulling himself away from the hug.

“Woah! Do you _know_ him?” gasped Bad, watching the two.

The two boys looked at each other. George observed him— his baggy tee, the dark shorts he wore, and his muddy-blonde hair. The boy stared back, knowing fully well who he was. His friend was still quite confused on who he was, so he pulled the smiley mask over his face as a last resort.

George’s dark eyes sparkled in realization.

_“Dream?”_

The boy in front of him beamed. “Mhm, it’s me, _Dream_!”

”It _is_ you!”

The two boys giggled together, reunited. Dream jumped up and down eagerly, before leaping back onto his friend for another friendly hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)  
> happy new year to u all!


	4. Potatoes and Porkchops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ponyo’s Lullaby - Joe Hisaishi
> 
> Lisa’s Resolve - Joe Hisaishi
> 
> Gran Mamare / A Night of Shooting Stars - Joe Hisaishi

The three watched as a large water sprout had emerged from the water suddenly, but this time it had been different.

The gushing spring of water was a murky upbeat palette contrast to the dreary ocean and skies, and it looked like golden codfish had come with it, many white fish leaping around as well.

Dream leapt upwards out of the hug, cheering to his little brothers, thanking them for helping him find his friend.

This lasted for a short moment, when Bad immediately scooped up the two children into his arms and headed straight into the house, away from the churning rainstorm outside. He placed them both down into the foyer gently.

“All right, you two muffins,” Bad smiled, holding Dream’s hand gently. He looked toward the two,

“Life is mysterious and _amazing._ Now, let’s all try to calm down, okay? And me too..”

The muddy blonde boy nodded quietly. The towering man shifted over to take a lantern from the kitchen counter table, and came back. He placed it into Dream’s hands.

”Here, Dream! You can be our lantern bearer.”

The boy gazed into the mellow burning light of the lantern, feeling cosy from the warmth it shed. George was meanwhile unbuttoning his soaked teal raincoat as he smiled at his delighted friend in front of him.

———

The two boys frolicked around the house, exploring with eagerness.

Dream had been running along the wooden floorboards of the living room while he held the lantern secure over his head. 

He hopped around the spaces of the wooden tiles, and started to lunge toward the door overlooking the roaring storm outside. He found himself slamming into the glass with a clunk.

”Dream! Are you okay?” George asked in concern, but his friend just shook it off and continued to frolick around.

Dream parkoured around the soft sofas surrounding the coffee table, but came to a pause when he spotted a strange fluffy creature.

”Woah! What’s this potato doing here?” He exclaimed curiously.

George giggled. “That’s not a potato, that’s our cat, Patches!”

The energetic boy bent down to see the marbled cat in front of him. Her eyes were squinting at him as she studied the boy in front of him, but she closed her eyes slowly, trusting him.

Dream blinked slowly back, and he stood himself up. He began to dash toward the kitchen room while the lantern settled on top of his messy hair, but his face abruptly met a fluffy thing capturing him.

Bad pulled a lime jumper over the boy, who gasped at how cosy it was. It was an old hoodie from his friend, Skeppy, who had bought it only to claim it ‘wasn’t his colour.’

”There you go! Look at those cool green eyes.” He expressed, but he tilted his head quietly, puzzled.

Dream tilted his head too, confused as well by the look on his face.

”Oh, your hair’s already dry! Your tee too.”

George chimed in, “That’s ‘cause Dream was a fish, Bad. Water can’t make him wet!”

His friend nodded, “Mm-hm.” He pulled the baggy sleeve over his face, feeling the soft fleece lining from inside.

”I really like this thing!” He piped up, delighted.

———

“Dream, could ya carry the lantern for me here?” Bad called out to the boy. He was at the kitchen that remained dark as well as the rest of the house, standing in front of one of the sink cauldrons.

“Coming!” responded the mud blonde boy darting over to where he was standing, along with George following as well. They stood next to each other by their guardian.

”Okay you muffins. Who wants to bet that this water will work?” he asked the two.

”I do!” they both piped up.

Their guardian twisted the faucet handles of the cauldron, and it had spewed out gushing water almost immediately.

”Water!” George shouted.

”Water!” his friend Dream followed, hopping in place eagerly while he held the lantern over his head. “We have our own water source out in the yard,” noted George. Bad then shifted himself by the stone furnaces. He took out a few pieces of coal from the chests and they creaked as they closed.

”So! Let’s see if the furnaces will cook,” he stated. He tossed the coal into the furnace ovens where a few charred sticks of wood laid, watching as it started to glow a fiery ball of yarn within. It lit up the dark house just a little bit, giving off some warmth to the three. “All right!” the man declared.

”Furnaces!” Dream yelped, keeping a little bit away from when the furnaces got a bit too warm to his nose.

”Furni,” commented George, in his own odd way of saying it.

”Okay, let’s go sit at the table ya muffins.” Bad told the two, who bolted over in their seperate ways. Dream parkoured around the living room couches, careful to hop over Patches while George was sitting at the dining room counter table that sat by the kitchen.

”Dream, the table’s over here!” He told his friend, who was now hopping his way over to the counter table. He made his last jump, practically diving into his seat. _Thud._

“Okay, now you sit like this,” George informed his friend, sitting upright while he glanced over to his friend who was literally sinking into the seat. Dream followed him, slouching a bit, but at least it was better than before. He continued to use the two of his hands to hold the light over his messy hair, while he sank into the seat cosily.

”Now, put your stuff down.”

Dream refused to, shaking his head. “I’ll use my face!” He offered, lunging his head at the mug toward him. He used his mouth to nip onto the rim so that he wouldn’t have to use his hands at all, him being used to his blob form. As he held the cup from the rim of it, the cup fell onto his face balancing and covering his lower face.

”Woah! What?” George expressed, and he tried the same, only to drop the cup onto the table lightly with a small _clunk_. He and his friend giggled lightly.

”Oh, what are you two muffins doing?” Bad chuckled, holding a tray in his arms. He settled it onto the counter, sitting at the table with the two on his own chair as well. Dream settled down, finally placing down his lantern quietly as he watched, interested.

He took George’s mug, pouring warm milk from another larger pitcher-like cup into it. He took a small spoon about the size of his own finger, dipping it into a honey bottle and dropping it into George’s cup, gently pushing it toward him. Dream watched, still a bit puzzled.

“This is the best!” his friend spoke, mixing the honey-covered spoon into his cup. He blew onto it a few times gently, and finally lifted up the cup which covered his lower face as he sipped it up slowly. Dream found his cup being poked over to him, prepared just George’s own mug.

He curiously took the spoon and licked it, tasting the syrupy honey. He copied his friend, fixing it into the drink and stirring quickly. The mud blonde boy started to blow onto his hot drink with all his might just like his friend, a few particles spewing out from the force.

_Phew! Pheewwww!_

Bad chuckled softly, watching the boy as he sipped his own cup.

Dream watched as George finished his, and he did the same, lifting up his cup to his face and gulping it all down quickly. He sighed, delighted by the sweet taste of the drink, and he bounced with a single hiccup.

”Ahh....” Bad sighed, “That hit the spot.”

Finally, he spoke up again. “So, what would you two muffins like to do now?” He asked, glancing toward the two boys in front of him, who had both just finished their hot syrupy drinks.

”Dream wants _porkchops!_ ” Dream shouted, once again bouncing on his feet from under the table eagerly.

“All he thinks about are porkchops, Bad!” George chimed in.

“Well...I suppose I should go make some dinner then!” Bad replied, chortling quietly at the sudden excitement, “But _first,_ let’s go and try talking to Skeppy through the jukebox.”

The boy in the lime green jumper tilted his head, curious.

”Skeppy. That’s our friend, kind of like a dad to all of us.” his dark-haired friend noted.

Dream uttered quietly, “Is he a naval wizard?”

”Of course not!” George replied quickly, puzzled at what odd thing his friend had said.

”So, Dream,” Their guardian started, “What’s _your_ dad like?”

Dream bolted up from his seat.

”He _hates_ humans! He keeps me in a _bubble!”_ He shouted, still stuffy about his father who denied his own happiness.

” _Huh?”_ George uttered.

”So I swam away from home.”

_“...Huh?!”_

“Well...any other family?” Bad asked, brushing off the angry mood a bit.

”Gramps! He’s big, and so cool!” the addressed boy beamed, spreading his arms wide, “But! He _can_ be very scary sometimes.”

”Just like Bad,” George added.

Bad laughed at his silly remark lightheartedly, his hand over his mouth. “Hahaha!”

———

The hooded man lead the two boys to the boiler room from behind a spruce door. The children looked around the small room, noticing all of the redstone contraptions sealed behind colourful stained glass, all done by a friend of Bad’s.

”Dream, over here please!” 

Dream followed inching near him, making sure the lantern would light up the room for him a bit.

Bad squatted down to a certain one that was for powering light around the entire house. He tugged, trying to flick the lever that would power it all, but it wouldn’t budge. He knocked his fist gently against it, seeing as it was stuck, with gunk caked around the system as well as in the lever itself.

Bad shook his head, “It looks like the system’s clogged, but I dunno where.”

”It’s stuck,” noted Dream, “It’s stuck over there.” He pointed toward a row of repeaters encased inside the stained glass, seeing as they were a few ticks off. George watched, not understanding too well what he was talking about.

His friend took his pointed index finger, focusing it at the small roll of repeaters. Bad continued to try and flick around the lever despite it being of no use, not noticing what the boy was doing. Dream pushed pressure, activating his magic. He set the repeaters to their right ticks, sliding it just a few times, maybe one or two.

Suddenly, the whole system of redstone lit up, pulsing and glowing, as well as the entire house getting all of its its lights back.

”It’s on!” Bad gasped, feeling that it was just like a miracle that had passed by.

Dream jumped around up and down in circles as he inched back next to his dark-haired friend, proud of himself. “It’s light now!” He beamed, cheering to himself.

“Dream, you’re amazing...” George remarked quietly, amazed.

The three made their way outside, in the humid warm air. With his lantern over his head, Dream pranced around in the soft lush grass barefoot. Meanwhile, George and Bad were beside him, with more serious tones on their faces.

The sea continued to toss around from below, despite it already being nighttime.

”Antenna, antenna!” Dream noted, as the antenna sticking out from the ground swayed slowly in place. He stopped, glancing at his friend as he noticed his more solemn look.

”Hey Bad...” George spoke, “Did all those ships out there sink?”

”No lights out there...” His guardian uttered, lost in his thoughts and worries. He went silent, thinking for a moment.

”All right, let’s go back in now.” He motioned back towards the door to the two boys, and they all climbed inside.

Bad, Dream, and George all sat at the wooden counter, the same one where a bookshelf was lined up around the walls, along with the house telephone. Bad was tweaking around with the radio jukebox, hoping to get some sort of signal. He twisted around the dials, no idea what he was doing, only that he needed to find some sort of signal to contact from.

Coming to a stop on fidgeting with one of the knobs of the jukebox, it let out a very, _very_ loud wail. It was overwhelming, a painful screech wailing from the radio.

“Too loud!” cried out Dream, covering his ears tightly while everyone else seemed unbothered by the sudden wail of the gadget.

”What’s wrong?” asked George, leaning over to face his guardian.

”That’s weird, I can’t seem to get any reception..”

Bad pressed the small button on the side of it, hoping it would at least enable a recording or some sort of signal broadcast over to Skeppy’s vessel radio.

”Transmitting from MUF1N,” signaled the hooded guy, “MUF1N,

Come in, Skeppy. This is Bad, George, and Dream.

We wanted to let you know that we’re all doing fine.”

He slid the radio onto the wooden counter over to George, who’d been leaning eagerly onto the table. “I’m taking care of everyone, Skeppy!” He declared, and he passed the jukebox over to his friend.

Dream bounced up, leaning nearer into the jukebox, shouting,

“ _PORKCHOPS_!”

———

Crisp curls of noodles fell into each bowls with light _thumps._

 _Thud, Thud!_ went the sliced carrots, potatoes, and chopped up veggies as they hit the hollow bowl.

The two boys sat at the coffee table for their dinner, knees settled onto the floor. The harvested crops dropped down in the bowl looked like a murky fruit salad, a colourful and tasty looking one.

”Got your veggies and noodles all ready?” Bad asked the two, edging toward them steadily. They nodded, and began to sit tight, watching their guardian with eagerness. He took a pitcher, pouring broth into each bowl slowly.

Dream watched with curiosity as the broth had made its way filling his bowl, until a large dry square of kelp was placed over each bowl gently, hiding it completely out of site.

”It takes a little bit to settle,” informed their guardian, “So we’re gonna have to wait a little.”

The two boys grew a bit bored waiting for a while. One of the boys waiting, Dream, tilted over while he waited and saw a small piece of potato that had somehow hopped its way onto the table.

He picked it up with his two fingers, and chewed it slowly. It was _delicious,_ a salty and mushy taste.

“Okay, time to close your eyes!” Bad told the two, who both promptly did so, covering their eyes, “Keep em shut!”

Dream was eager to see what would happen, opening one of his eyes from underneath his hands, slightly opening up his fingers out into a gap to peek through.

”Ah, Dream! No peeking!” Bad teased, and the boy let out a gasp of shock, shock from being caught red-handed...err, well, green-handed.

Pressing his palms over his eyes, Dream waited through his excitement next to his friend, who was doing so as well. Finally, their guardian spoke.

”All right you muffins, you can open your eyes now!”

The two friends unstuck their palms from their eyes, now a little bit sore, but they lit up once again when they both realised what was about to happen. Bad hovered his hands over the two bowls, where threads of wispy steam started to poke out of from underneath the kelp lids.

”It’s... _Muffin Time!”_ He announced to the children, slipping away the kelp from over the bowls. The two kids bolted up, shocked at how the soup had a magical transformation, from just a mere pile of veggies to a steamy, savoury looking meal.

”Thought I’d cook up _BadBoyHalo’s Famous: Chicken Noodle Soup (modified™)!”_ He declared with a silly accent.

Slices of potatoes and carrots floated around the salty lake-like broth, soft curls of noodles scattered around. An abundance of chewy strips of cooked chicken laid around, a few flakes of spiced ferns sprinkled around. There was also something else _special_ , and that was—

“It’s _PORKCHOPS!”_ Dream shouted in delight, but he hadn’t a moment to waste.

George smiled, just about to dig into his delicious looking soup. He glanced over once only to widen his eyes, watching his friend dive into his soup to go ahead and grab one of the slabs of porkchops that had joined the broth miraculously.

”Careful, it’s hot—“ warned Bad, but it was too late. He watched as the muddy blonde boy hop around, regretting his decision upon a whim.

”Hot, hot!” He shrieked as he hopped, trying to cool down the hot piece of porkchop laying in his mouth.

———

Dream’s eyes grew heavy as he was just about finished with his savoury soup, and he fell onto the floor with a light _thump_ feeling tired and worn out from all the high energy he’d expressed. George noticed, turning over to see his friend already asleep on the wooden floor. He finished slurping up his final noodle.

”Bad! Dream fell asleep.”

Bad placed Dream gently down onto the side of the couch as he snored away, pulling a soft yellow woolen blanket over him. George leaned over, seeing his friend asleep and unbothered.

”Do you think..Dream came from far, far away?” He quietly asked his guardian, careful not to wake up his friend with a loud voice.

”Yeah, I do.”

Bad leaned against the large panel window above its cosy window bench, watching the outside through it.

“Look outside,” Bad uttered to George, “It looks like the waves finally calmed down.”

”Maybe it’s because Dream fell asleep..” The boy suggested.

Peering carefully and closer to the window, the man noticed something out there, some sort of light signal.

”Do you see that light?”

George hopped on the window bench onto his knees, carefully watching what his guardian was talking about.

Bad continued, “It’s moving. What if someone’s still out over there?” 

”That’s the greenhouse, right?”

”I don’t see it now. I really hope they evacuated.

I’m really worried about all my friends over there.” Bad murmured, now pulling away from the window and now distracted in his own worried thoughts. George slid off of the bench, sticking with his guardian close. The wide sliding door panel was then opened, and Bad already had his hooded jacket on, as well as his checkered bandana over his face and his boots slid on. George stayed close behind Bad, until he spoke.

”George, stay with Dream, okay? I’ve got to go help them,” He told the boy under a solemn tone, “I should be able to try and make it, if I go down the mountain road. I should get going to the greenhouse now.”

George refused to let his guardian have to do this alone. “I’m coming, too.” He protested.

”George— I’d feel better if you stay up here.”

Back in their spruce-shroom home, Bad was busy stuffing snacks of all kind into a portable barrel— Plenty of loaves of crisp baked bread, a few slices of pumpkin pie and baked potatoes, and of course, much more goodies. George remained next to him as he did that, still protesting.

”But why can’t I come?” He asked, “We can wake up Dream, and take him with us.

I _wanna_ go with you!”

Finally finished packing up the goodies, Bad turned to face him, squatting down awkwardly to the boy’s height.

“George,” He started, “Right now, our house is a beacon in the storm.

The town and the ships out at sea can see our light, but where they are is all dark.

And you know, I need to help them all out.

Bad continued on while George listened to him carefully, “So, I'm gonna be leaving you here in charge. You'll do the right thing, I _know_ it.

You’ll have to be the muffin of the house tonight. Let Dream sleep, and wait for me, alright?”

The man looked into young George’s eyes seriously, with a glimpse of hope in his friendly eyes.

”You’re only eight, but I _trust_ you. I know you’re a smart kid.

And, well, _remember this—_

One of the most important things you can do— as a friend, is to _be there,_ and be the person that people can lean on, okay, George?”

The boy nodded, following his compassionate words. 

”'Cause that's when _you_ can impact the _biggest_ change in people's lives.

Everyone needs love. _We all really do.”_

George wiped away the tears of his fear from his eyes, feeling courage rise. He knew he shouldn’t be afraid anymore, and that he could trust in himself, listening to Bad’s words.

“You can _do it._ I’ll be back,” Bad concluded.

“Promise?”

”Of course. See you, George.” He promised, kneeling down and hugging him to give him hope.

The dark-haired boy watched from the yard gate as the embarrassing turquoise car started to roll out of the driveway. Bad stuck his head out of the window, giving him a thumbs up and eventually, a captain’s salute.

George saluted back, watching as the vehicle made its way down the mountain road quickly. He hastily dashed over back to the window seat, kneeling onto it and leaning against the window as he watched the last traces of Bad.

The lanterns of the shiny car soon faded through the thick shrubs of trees between the rocky roads, until it had all disappeared out of sight. He slid off of the window seat, concluding for the night and made his way toward the cosy sofa.

There was their cat, Patches, who’d now warmed up to Dream and was sleeping by his side on the couch arms. He heard the soft trembling purring of the equally as tired calico cat, despite her sleeping all day.

George felt his eyes tired from the eventful day, and he found himself falling asleep on the couch as well, on the other side of the sofa cushion opposed to his friend. He finally dozed off, now fast asleep and snoring away with Dream.

———

Meanwhile, farther out at the calm blue sea bobbed a vessel. One of the crewmembers poked his head out of the cabin.

“Captain,” stated Sam, “I can see the lights of a city up ahead. Finally, we can get our bearings again.”

“We’re someplace we’ve _never_ seen before!” started Ant, who was looking back and forth from a tattered map and the sight before them, puzzled.

”Did the storm blow us all the way out to the Farlands?” He continued, even though it was impossible. But seeing the strange wall of blinking lights before them, it could have well been there. “What mountains even are those— I have no idea where we are.”

Skeppy, the captain, looked carefully at the wall of blinking lights from the deck. “That— That’s a _huge_ wall of water!” He expressed, “Why’s the moon so close?” He mumbled, taking Ant’s place at the telescope to look up ahead.

”That’s no mountain, or city...Those lights are _ships!”_ gasped Skeppy, seeing sea lanterns of shipwrecks from below, as well as piles and piles of old vessels with their lights still blinking eerily. “The moon is _so_ close, making the ocean rise...it feels like it’s pulling us in with them!”

The ship started to rumble helplessly, especially at its control cabin where Sam stayed put in. “What—“ uttered Sam, only to find the redstone panel with its usual red glow fading off as the shaking finally paused. “Our engine’s _stopped!_ ”

“Try to hold ‘em steady,” commanded Skeppy, “And Ant, let’s drop the anvil down now!”

Ant responded, “Yes, cap’in!” but _paused_ before he could slide over to drop the anvil, “Wait! Something’s coming this way...”

The crewmembers all peered out to see what he was talking about, when they _saw_ it. A curious luminous light spread over the calm currents, heading directly toward the vessel. They all found themselves yelping, feeling afraid, about to brace themselves for the unknown, but perked up in realisation.

The _light_ was a _person!_ A _god_ , specifically, passing through the current right underneath their ship, which tumbled at the sudden motion. The crewmembers continued to hang on tight, while cascades of water began to splash over the edge of the deck— golden cod fish, spilling into the ship.  
His blonde hair flowed with him, the hem of his green yukata flowing underneath his jet black cloak-like jacket. They recognised him, with his striped green hat and all—

“I just saw,” cried out Skeppy, while he managed to cradle one of the golden fish, “The God of Survival!”

The codfish hopped out of his arms, turning back into ordinary oceanwater while he was left confused. “Did you see him too?” asked one of the crewmembers, it sounded like Ant, “I thought I was hallucinating!”

Suddenly, the ship hopped once, twice, and its lights began to blink while the redstone panel finally glowed, the engine starting up again. The paddles of the engine below started up as well, spewing out bubbles from its sudden force.

”The engine’s working!”

Sam finally dashed out of the ship’s cabin, hands clasped together as he prayed for a safety in sake of survival. Ant joined him as well, hopping next to him with his hands, or paws, pressed together. “Thank you for protecting us...”

———

“Higher, higher,” muttered a man, standing atop bursts of waves, thick and swishy like molasses, like a cascade of staircases. His locks of salmon pink hair trailed behind him while he kept his scruffy cloak pulled and tied over his shoulders.

He was just outside of the spruce and mushroom house at the cliff, and trying to get his way up to the window. The bursts of water beneath his high boots rose only barley, groaning in exhaustion as they were not used to coming upon land.

Technoblade _needed_ to go higher, about to lay his arms over the wooden fences only to pull back quick, a spark shocking his hands as he had touched the fence once. “Huh?” He gasped, tapping the fence again, getting shocked with a jolt of sparks, “It has a _powerful_ spell on it, how has he learned to do this?!”

He reached just up to the ground floor panel window, where he peeked over from, leaning forward a bit to catch the slightest glimpse. There he saw it, his son snoring on a sofa, a blanket pulled over him, now _human._ Another dark-haired boy he recognised was on the soft couch, sleeping as well. A fuzzy potato— no, a cat slept beside them like a guardian— Was it the cat?

“What?” He expressed as he furrowed his brows, clenching his fangs, grumbling.

”He’s _human_ now...I’m too late. I _need_ to _do_ something!” grumbled the sorcerer, but he stopped, a disturbance wiggling underneath his hooved boots. The bursts of water grew weaker, now shrinking and causing Technoblade to wobble clumsily. “What’s happening now? Hold still!”

He heard muffled giggles— his children, who had somehow found their way nibbling at the waves. He looked down while they squeaked in victory, and he desperately cried out, “Children! Children, _respect_ your father!” But now was too late, he fell back, splashing into the water while his clever children had double-crossed him mischievously.  
  


Knowing that now he couldn’t do anything, he bobbed himself toward the wooden deck of his vessel, climbing on. The wizard brushed his hair to his side, tidying it up now that he’d just dried up, being a wizard and all. Now Technoblade finally saw it— a luminous glow seeping its way to him— Philza, the God of Survival, but most importantly, his _father_.

“Finally, he’s here,” gasped Technoblade, tidying up his collar to look like a proper admin. His father flowed toward him, and all of his blobs of children retreated to see their giant gramps. “Hey, son.” greeted Phil casually.

”You did very well, my ocean feels _so_ colourful,” he continued, “Lots and lots o’ mobs spawning now.”

The sorcerer froze up, trying not to let his pride of his work faze him. He drearily responded, “You’re going to be _very_ upset, father— Dream got into my potions, and tasted human blood!”

The giant luminous god before him kept calm, “Dream? That’s a neat name,” He smiled, and closed his calm eyes to focus, “Hm.....”

Technoblade blushed, feeling terribly fussy and embarrassed to be so _unprofessional, not a proper wizard his father would have ever deserved._ “Of course, it’s all my fault, really.” He finally admitted.

”He’s become too powerful, that he’s opened up too much glitches in this world— He refuses to _listen_ to me.

Dream’s now human, and loves a little boy, and the whole world is out of balance.” He sighed, “Please, please— remove the human in him! The planet will decay if we don’t do anything..”

“Huh?”

The sorcerer heard swishing sounds from above, and he looked up into the dark night sky. He couldn’t believe his eyes. _Potatoes,_ potatoes all shooting down from the sky, just like a meteor shower. It took a bit for him to process what and how was happening.

”My potatoes...The world’s pulling my potatoes from my enderchest potato depositories. They’re clunking everywhere.” He gasped, now even more fussy. He dodged a potato just in time, and it spewed itself into the water, splashing onto him as he continued, ”The moon’s so close, it’s forcing the waters to rise high and higher, and—“

The giant god, or really, his father in front of him handed him a glistening melon, which his son hastily took and munched on. The sweet fruit finally had calmed him down, and he huffed, knowing fully well his responsibilities wouldn’t be over yet. Philza gave him a hand.

”Calm now, son,” He uttered quietly, and he finally opened his blue eyes.

”George,” Phil stated, “The boy’s name is George.” He looked down at all of his tiny little blob sons that frolicked around the sparkling waters, who were happy to be with their gramps. “We love your brother, and we all want for him to be happy.”

The god shrunk to a smaller size of himself, a form resembling a human being. He leaned over to sit by the dock with his son who was all caught up in worries. “Now, son,” started Technoblade’s father, “Why not let Dream be human for good? We must go and test the boy. If his love is true, Dream will be living as a human just like him, with the balance of nature restored.”

Technoblade looked down. “But, if it isn’t...Dream’ll turn into sea foam.” His father placed his hand on his shoulder for support. “Well, that’s where we all started from, wasn’t it? I only wish the best for your child I had given to you as a gift a couple years ago.”

“But—“ The salmon-haired man continued to ramble, “The boy’s so young, so innocent. What if..—“

“Shhh..” Philza hushed to his son. He took his hand up, phasing it in front of the house, which promptly flicked off all of the lights in the house.

”Let’s let them sleep,” He smiled, “They’ll need their rest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late post, but I hope you enjoyed!


	5. Sunken Ruins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sosuke’s Voyage - Joe Hisaishi
> 
> Sosuke’s Tears - Joe Hisaishi

“George!” A young voice called out.

_”George!”_

The named boy bolted up awake, only to knock his head into the forehead of his friend’s, who had been calling to him just about over where he was sleeping.

 _”Uh!”_ yelped Dream, rolling onto the soft sofa as well as his friend. He plopped himself just next to him.

”Oh, Dream!” George expressed, rubbing his forehead. The muddy blonde boy smiled back at him. “Morning, Gogy!”

‘Gogy’, or George, hopped off of the sofa to dash over to the large window-door panel, pushing aside the curtains.

It was finally sunny out, but the ocean had managed to rise all the way up, _right_ at the doorstep.

”Ah!” Dream gasped in excitement, standing next to his friend.

”Woah, it’s like the ocean’s at our door!” exclaimed his friend.

Inside the cyan waters thrived some murky looking fish, so George dipped his head into the water in front of him for a better look, with Dream following as well.

The two boys had their faces wading in the water as they watched the lively ocean just at their door. Small bushels of codfish along with _glowing_ strange squid pranced eagerly in the thriving waters.

While George had to blow bubbles through his nose, Dream only had to watch with no bother at all. The two finally lifted out, shaking themselves dry.

Dream promptly piped up, “How come Bad’s not here?”

“The water’s so high up here...” uttered George quietly, “He must be stuck. Too bad we don’t have a boat.”

”There’s a boat,” noted the boy in the lime jumper, “Over there!”

He pointed to the wooden boat of George’s, which had been resting atop a brick countertable lined with wood. The dark-haired boy shook his head.

”My boat’s a little too small.” He sighed.

”No it’s not!” Dream chimed in. He slid himself over to the boat, and curled his hands into tight fists while he started to activate his magic.

He closed his eyes shut, pressing hard— until he finally released his now flailing baggy sleeves into the air.

”Hah!” He wheezed in victory. George watched the entire thing in bumfuzzlement. His toy boat was now _life sized!_

”Woah— Thank you!”

The two boys took their hands underneath the boat to slowly haul it over to the ‘pier’, which was just the sandstone slabs leading up to the panel door.

Instead of a steady pace though, Dream rushed the boat, carrying most of its weight with him, over to the doorway while his friend was dragged with it.

”Woah, woah, woah!” yelped George in shock, but he felt himself dipping into the warm, clear ocean waters, just up to his knees now.

He watched as Dream playfully lunged around in the waters in excitement, and he finally adjusted on his banana-coloured leather hat. “It actually floats really well!”

”Hop on, Dream!” He piped up, and his friend promptly did so, just about at the slab-like seat in front of him. George took both the wooden paddles into his fists.

“Woah, we can both fit in this thing! No leaks in here either!”

”Those are strange spoons,” Dream expressed while George giggled.

“Looks like everything’s shipshape,” George noted, securing the barrel of snacks underneath his seat, pushing with his foot. Bad had prepared this for them the night before. 

”Shipshape!” Dream amped, laughing at the funny-sounding word, clutching the green bucket slung over his arms that he’d picked up on the way.

“Yeah, shipshape!”

”Shipshape, shipshape, shipshape!” 

The captain continued to push the boat off of the water, watching as teal-blue cascades of water seemed to say their goodbyes to them as the boat departed.

”Woo!” follied Dream, excited to explore the open sea on their humble boat. He brushed his feet lightly over the wooden boards as he swung his legs in eagerness on the slab seat.

Making their way over to their main sea village, George leaned over and called to his friend,

“Dream! You can be the lookout, and I’ll be the captain paddling.”

His friend liked that idea with an “Mm-hm!” and hopped onto the slab of his seat.

He was trudging a bit toward the boat edge, and stood up boldly.

“I’m the lookout!”

He and his friend looked down below them, seeing the familiar mountain road all swallowed up by the ocean.

“It’s the road that Bad took,” George noticed.

”I don’t see him,” Dream added, while he looked down at the sparkling seawater.

”We will. He promised me he’d come back.”  
  
George noticed more murky sealife poking around the waters down below. “Look at all these strange fish!” He mused, lightening the mood.

”I know that one,” started Dream, pointing at a sparkly-looking squid trudging its way through the darker rocky coves below. “It’s a glowsquid!”

“And that one is...” stated George, spotting a crinkly creature that looked like a rock, “A sea turtle!”

”Turtle!” repeated back his friend, “I know those ones!” He leaned over to a few patches of water where a school of fish dashed through. They looked like lucky charms, all different colours.

”Tropical fish!” George answered.

Dream repeated back, ”Tropical fish!”

Continuing to pass over the sunken town which now looked a lot like ocean ruins, the two spotted another boat just like theirs, but narrower and made of sophisticated looking birch, with a familiar-looking guy in it.

”Ahoy!” He called out, waving to them.

“I’m gonna say that too,” Dream declared, and chimed in with an, “AHOY!” while flailing his arms as well.

George took the boat paddles, swiffeling his way over to the boat as Dream was amazed at the sudden change of speed. It came to a steady stop, nestling just at the side of the narrow craft.

”Hey, kiddo, poggers boat you’ve got there!” The man greeted. It was Wilbur, and he had a small fox with him in his boat as well as his acoustic guitar by the walls of the craft.

Dream shook his head. “He’s not a _kiddo,_ he’s George!”

George nodded. “Yeah, and that’s Dream!”

”Mm-hm! I used to be a blob.”

”Oh right, I remember you, Dream! You were and are a very handsome boi.”

“Hullo, who’s that?” He asked, peering at the fox shyly hiding behind the tall man. The man patted the fox’s fuzzy head.

”My son, Fundy!” He piped up, as Fundy poked his head out curiously to look at the boy in his baggy jumper. “I rescued him during the flooding, he’s my little champion.”

George leaned over from his seat, placing down the boat paddles to rest. ”Have you seen Bad anywhere?” 

“No— Where has he gone off to?” Wilbur asked the two boys in their boat.

”We’re off on our boat to look around for him,” answered George, tilting his leather cap upright, “Last night, he told me he was going over to the greenhouse.”

”All the way down there? I swear, I would’ve seen him around if he’d gone there while I was hastily making way outta there.”

Dream kneeled on the wooden floor of the boat, leaning over the bearings to look back at the young red fox.  
Fundy finally pulled out from behind Wilbur, leaning over to peer curiously at Dream as well.

Dream followed Fundy as the fox slowly blinked his eyes, closing his as well.

He felt intrigued to see another being just as young as him, or even younger,

but had instead been able to experience the nurturing of a parent he never was able to really recieve from his own pair.

He nodded, smiling, and turned to George’s side.

Dream bent over to pry open the barrel underneath hid seat, taking something out. It was a glass bottle of syrupy, sweet honey, and he handed it over to the man in the boat.

”Is for me?” Wilbur asked, and began to pop out the cork of the bottle to drink. Dream immediately shook his head, “No, the honey’s for _him!”_

Wilbur paused awkwardly, then finally replied, “He’s a bit too young of a fox to have honey at this age. But, my son here and I can both have lunch together if I have the honey and he gets his berries.” Dream began to understand, peering at the now-father.

”Would that be alright with you, Dream?”

”Okay!”

The tall man in his red beanie took the bottle of honey into his grip, finally prying out the sticky cork after a bit of pulling. He sipped it.

”This is good, sweet honey!”

George chimed in, ”Yeah, Bad recieved it at the greenhouse just before he left yesterday evening!”

”I wish I’d gotten some free snacks too,” teased Wilbur. He abruptly pulled his familiar acoustic guitar from his side, which surprised the two boys. It smelled like the crinkly old pages of leather-spined books.

“Here, I’ll play you a verse of my song I’m writing, to pay you back for the honey,” He offered, and the boys didn’t refuse at all. “You’ll be the first people as my audience to hear this!”

He strummed his guitar over the thick, now quivering strings.

The chords began to build up, all piecing it together. Then, he sang.

_Somewhere, deep in the ocean  
Some squids congregate on the seafloor  
When a Minecrafter comes down to see them  
They immediately expect the worst to come,_

The two boys were sitting down in their boat, taking in the savoury words and melody.

Dream had been bouncing up an down, enjoying the song.

_But then the stranger starts to give_   
_The squids' cakes and pork chops_   
_Suddenly, they don't feel so alone,_

The solemn part of this song caused Dream to pause his bouncing.

It reminded him of when George had rescued him— taking care of him, giving him porkchops, all this kindness from a stranger.

Finally, he shook himself of the thought, hearing a steady roaring chant up ahead. It didn’t bother him too much, and he perked his head up to see what was happening.

It was a caravan of large, narrow boats, all a lot bigger than the craft in front of them. The boats were at a steady slow pace passing by theirs, and came to a slow stop.

Lots of the sea village people were all aboard upon the boat. “The whole town’s here,” George noted, “Just like a parade!”

“Ahoy!” shouted a person from a boat. It was Captain Puffy, who was quite literally a captain now.

She wore her jet-black tricorn hat proudly, while her crewmates beside her waved around colourful poppy-coloured banners.

“Are you in need of any assistance?”

Wilbur, who was standing up from his boat, called back, “No, we’re all good here! But thank you, Captain Puffy!”

The captain held her rainbow banner up high, quickly piping up, “Please feel free to go ahead and follow us if you need to! We are heading to the Inn!”

”Aye aye, will do!” Wilbur followed. He turned to face the two, plopping down his guitar. “I shouldn’t be delaying your search with my song for now, but I hope you can stop by soon to listen!”

”We will!” George told the man, and sat back down on his seat to get his paddles ready. Dream seemed to be occupied, taking something out of the barrel underneath him again. He pulled out crisp sandwiches.

”Here, have some berries!” He offered proudly, pushing the stack of sandwiches toward the other two in the boat. “He already ate all the porkchops off of the sandwiches,” George giggled.

Wilbur awkwardly chuckled, “Well...can’t say no, I suppose!” He took the sandwiches into his hands, which were now fumbling all together a bit, like a rickety tower of wooden planks. “I hope you find Bad soon!”

George waved goodbye with a simple nod of his head, and began to pull out with the paddesticks, drifting outward into the vast waters once again. Dream continued to stand as the lookout by the edge of his seat, looking back at their stop.

Fundy looked afraid. He was quivering underneath Wilbur’s seat, feeling overwhelmed by the wide waters he’d seen and leaned towards previously.

”Wh-what’s wrong, Fundy?” Wilbur asked, concerned for his son.

Dream knew he _had_ to help, so he hopped out of the boat.

The muddy blonde kid skipped on top of the ocean waters lightly on his bare feet, like a stone skipping. He pranced over back to the narrow boat, darting underneath the seat of Wilbur’s to face the young fox again.

He lightly stroked his hand over the fox’s head, comforting him as it gave him more confidence. Finally, Fundy hopped out of the enclosed area over to on top of his seat, feeling braver than ever.

Wilbur watched, bumfuzzled as Dream skipped back the same way to the boat that continued to drift. Dream hopped back into the wooden boat, where George was continuing his steering and had not noticed him leave.

Fundy cackled happily, and Wilbur was satisfied to see his little champion no longer afraid of the waters he was found in.

“George! What’re you doing out here?” yelped Tubbo, bouncing up and down as he clutched his bee plush in his arms. Another young classmate of his, Ranboo, peeked around from behind Tubbo.

”Woah, where’s Bad? Cool boat.” He stated, keeping a good distance from the water. His paper crown had crayons— no, ‘gold’ scribbled on it.

”We’re on our way looking for him! He was at the greenhouse just last night.” replied George.

“ _George!_ Can I come ride in your boat tooo?” squeaked out a young voice. It was Tommy, who had pushed his way all the way over to the bearings of the ship to see his classmate passing by. “I’ll take Tubbo too!”

”I can’t, I’m busy!” George responded smugly, “I have a job now!”

“Check the park,” Ranboo told him, “I think the gardeners should be there by now!”

”’Kay!”

”Good luck, kiddo!” called out Puffy, giving the young captain a salute. The boy followed a captain’s salute back to her as he looked to his side while paddling.

———

The boat was passing through a borough of trees, the _park,_ as mentioned by Puffy. The tall trees were even engulfed in the ocean water, and they looked just like mangrove trees in a swamp.

Vines were draped around them, and the two kids could somehow hear the chirps of parrots as they paddled through the quiet area.

Dream’s head was over the rim of the wooden boat, he had been moving slowly for the meantime. George found it strange, since he was always so full of energy.

“Looks like our food’ll all be out soon,” noted the dark-haired boy. He stopped his paddling to reach over to the barrel, swiping a hidden porkchop from the almost empty pantry.

“Dream.”

“Dream,” George called to his friend, who seemed very sleepy. “Dream...Here, have this porkchop.”

He pushed the chop over to his friend, who somehow barely responded to his favourite food. Dream tilted his head leisurely, facing George.

He took the porkchop into his tired hand, but didn’t eat it.

George had a bad feeling, knowing he should let his friend have his rest.

It was weird that Dream didn’t want to eat the porkchop, he would’ve ate it regardless of being hungry or not.

He came to a stop on his paddling, noticing the now shallow waters.

”Looks like I can walk from here!” the boy expressed, leaping out of his boat into the shallow seawater.

He waded his legs through and trudged around the boat to the nearby ground ahead.

It was a bit of a heavy hull, but a couple pushes did the trick to get it closer to the land.

As his hands had gripped around the boat, he felt a strange motion of the wood moving around, and immediately looked to his side to see what was going on.

”It’s shrinking!” gasped George, kicking the water around with swift movements, splashing his way to the shore as his boat shrank smaller and smaller— back to its original size.

  
He pulled the baggy jumper of a still sleeping Dream with him, to make sure he’d at least be fine.

”Dream!” he cried, “Are you alright?!”

“...George.” He uttered, giving his friend a small sleepy smile.

”You scared me!” smiled George, “Please don’t turn into a blob again, I’d miss you.” His focus changed, seeing a familiar _blue_ hue of a sparkling car. His dark eyes widened in realisation.

”It’s Bad’s car! Come on, Dream!” George gasped, thumping his feet upward of the now dry ground of the stone road. “He might be still in there!”

Dream stayed behind for a few seconds He was quietly picking up the now toy boat, pouring out the salty water in it, taking George’s yellow leather cap into his arms as well.

George bolted over to the car, prying open the car doors. “Bad!” He shouted, calling for his guardian.

No one was there.

Just the cluttered leftover inventory and junk from the week, stashed around the car.

But no Bad.

“Bad! Where are you?!”

George frantically looked into the car for any sign of him, but nothing turned up. He hopped out, to look through his surroundings.

”Bad!

... _Bad!...”_

He felt afraid, wondering Bad had really broken his promise of coming back.  
Tears began to run down from his eyes, and he sobbed silently.

_Was it really time to give up?_

He crumpled his blue shirt with his fists, not knowing what to do.

He didn’t know if he could really be _independent_ for his guardian anymore, or even _be_ there for him, like he had asked him to.

His fatigued friend trudged toward from behind him.

”I’ve got your boat.” Dream smiled, handing George the small wooden boat. George bashfully accepted it, hoping to try and hide that he was afraid, and crying.

Dream tilted his head, “There’s water coming from your eyes, that’s strange.”

He was unable to understand why his friend felt so unstable. He took George’s hand gingerly, and George gripped tight.

”Let’s go find Bad, okay?”

”Mm-hm.”

The two friends steadied their way together toward a dark stone brick tunnel that would lead out to the other side. Dream held the pail in place over his wrist weakly.


	6. Regeneration II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tunnel - Joe Hisaishi
> 
> A Song for Mothers and the Sea - Joe Hisaishi
> 
> Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea - Joe Hisaishi

“Woah, this is nice!” exclaimed Sapnap, tossing himself around the lush plains-like grass, where dandelions were sprinkled around on. It ruffled his hair, but that didn’t bother him in the swell moment now.

The other fellow gardeners joined him, rolling around while a few sat together, twisting flower crowns for each other. The stems of the bright poppies were bound within each other with tight knots.

As she finished the last knot, Niki tossed the crown onto Sapnap’s face as he had ended up rolling over to her. They both laughed together, and their friends all followed, sharing the joy.

”Hey! What about your spoon?” called out a shovel-holding Karl, lunging toward Sapnap only to tumble over onto his face. “Forget the shovel!” chuckled Sap boldly, “We can do whatever we want.”

Eret bolted over, holding his flower basket full of milk-white daisies and pale rosy tulips. He pointed over to the side of their bubble chamber, seeing something.

”Here comes a _huge_ ol’ sea turtle again!”

The gardeners promptly darted over to watch the huge sea turtle from behind the bubble dome wall, its eyes filled with crinkles from age. It paddled its fins gracefully, making its way all the way out to the surface.

”Gooooodbye, Mr. Turtle.” Niki waved, as the turtle made its departure. She plopped back lying down onto the soft ground and smoothed out her apron.

She began to weave another fluffy flower crown for Eret, who had stacks of crowns as opposed to his golden one he had previously worn before.

”Looks like I’ve no longer got an old man’s back.” Eret chuckled jokingly, now feeling relaxed and laid back.

”Hm, respawning isn’t so bad...” Sapnap uttered, thinking, “I mean, where else would we be?”

”Aether?” Karl asked jokingly.

Sapnap broke into an aggressive fit of laughter, at the silly thought of the glowstone-water dimension. He almost literally choked on air. “What?” Karl chuckled after him.

“You potatoes, please, come over here.” called over a deep voice, Technoblade. He patted out his cloak, trying to look formal and presentable. The gardeners perked their heads up.

”Let’s race there!” beamed Karl, already starting to prance over to the boat the sorcerer was standing on. “Hey!” gasped Niki, trying to make her way over as well.

She paused as she realised that Eret bolted at a truly terrifying rate, somehow surpassing the two in the lead. Eret smacked his hand onto the side of the vessel, finishing first.

”I’m the KING!”

Sapnap, who’d been lying down lazily the whole time, finally took himself to the vessel with the others steadily, while he kept his arms behind his head, relaxed.

“Everyone, quiet please,” pleaded Techno, his two hands out, pacing his palms slowly toward the bunch of gardeners. “The time has come for you to finally witness a _sacred_ test of _love.”_

 _“_ Oh! _”_ Niki gasped, pretending to be interested. “Aren’t they too young for this?” She doubted, the fact that Dream and George were just eight year olds, really, to know anything about _love._

Sapnap added, “I hope there’s refreshments, or something.”

“Yeah!” Karl chimed in, “Maybe you could spare us some of those tasty potatoes you’ve been farming.” He smirked.

”How did you get into my pota—“ Techno stuttered, then shook his head, “...And remember, this is a _very_ crucial moment.”

“Techno...” Eret asked the wizard in a more solemn tone, “You won’t let any harm come to George, _or_ Dream, _right?”_

 _“_ He wouldn’t... _would_ he?” whispered Niki, just as worried now at the thought of the two kids.

Seeing as one doubted his responsibilities, he tried to refrain from stuttering once again. “No, I _won’t_. Of course not,” He stated clearly, “I can only hope Dream will remain asleep. Now, excuse me...”

Technoblade hopped into his flippered vessel, blotched with sea pickles. He steered out of the utopia-like bubble dome, leaving all of the gardeners to go back to messing around again.

“You think we can trust him?” asked Eret, still a bit doubtful. He looked to his side, drifting off, “Oh! What’s Bad doing over there, with that shiny guy?”

”He’s with the God of Survival, talking _all_ night an’ day,” responded Sapnap, exaggerating the ‘ _all_ ’,

“Poor guy, I wonder what’s up with him.”

”Why don’t we ask ‘im?” Niki piped up, and began to hop up and down to get Bad’s attention. The other gardeners joined as well, calling out his name. They all were like baby chickens, squeaking for seeds.

”Bad!”

The addressed man turned his head away from the tall man he had been talking to, hearing his name.

”Bad! What’re you talking ‘bout over there?” chimed in Sap, giving his friend a compassionate smile. Bad excused himself from talking with Phil, and the god understood, as Bad made his way over to his fellow gardeners.

“You think we can trust that awful pig man?” corked Sapnap, a little bit skeptical of Techno and his weird shenanigans and get up. The others all gathered around the hooded guy as well.

”Well...I’m just soglad we muffins are here, _together_ , to see all this.” Bad beamed, “And I think, that it’ll all be okay.”

———

The two young boys trudged their way toward the ominous tunnel before them. An inscription carved into the stone bricks read, ‘Regeneration’ in crooked letters.

”Don’t let go of my hand, okay?” George directed to his friend, squeezing his weak hand tight. Dream continued to feel drowsy and awful, his hand looser in George’s grip.

”Don’t like this place.”

Dream and George went further and further— the noticeable darkness swallowing up their field of vision. It was incredibly murky and humid in the tunnel, with the _drip-drops_ of water drizzling its way from above, despite the tunnel being above the flood waters.

George tried his best to stand brave, as long as he and his friend could make it out and find Bad. Dream’s bare feet swiped themselves over the rough road underneath, the only sound really heard through the silent tunnel. George had an eerily terrible feeling.

_Rvghthzr..._

The sound of the bucket going roughly, scraping low onto the ground, made George flinch to his side. There was Dream, growing paler and paler to an eerie white colour. George felt horrified, seeing as Dream seemed to be shrinking as well just like the boat had.

He grabbed his friend’s hand tight, dragging them both out of the tunnel. Dream followed weakly, and eventually fell onto the ground as they’d just made their way out back into the sunny outdoors. George crouched down, his friend looking barely alive now. He shook his friend from the sleeves of his lime jumper, feeling the warmth of the sun on his smudged hands.

”Dream!” He called out, “Dream! Please, don’t _die!_

 _Please,_ wake up!”

“Shh.”

George perked up, to see a suspicious tall man. He was the same strange _‘muffinhead’_ with his shaggy crimson cloak, who had taken away Dream into the waves. He wouldn’t let it happen again, and he stiffened up.

”No need to wake up your friend,” stated the strange man, “It’s so good to finally meet you, _George_.”

The dark-haired boy picked up Dream, who’d turned back into his blob form, scooping him back into his bucket with care. George stayed dead silent, stepping away from the one in his boar mask.

“We’ve all been waiting for you,” continued on Techno, “Those gardeners, your own _guardian,”_

“...Bad?” George finally spoke up.

“Yep. Please, come with me to join them,” He told the boy, “I promise, I won’t take Dream away from you.”

The boy shook his head, his hands clasped around the bucket tighter than ever. He stepped away into the shoreline, where the ocean waves pulled in and back, and he scooped up some of the sparkling teal seawater into the pail.

Techno stepped toward him slowly, “C’mon, we’ve got to go now.”

” _George!”_

George looked behind him, to see a grumpy-looking Ponk _._ He was at a beach bungalow in the midst of the floodwaters that managed to play it safe above on its spruce log stilts. He had his gardening spoon locked into his fists, ready to defend himself. “Ponk!” He exclaimed, surprised to see that he had been over there the entire time instead of going with anyone else.

“George! Don’t listen to what that _pigman_ says, he tricked all the others into going! But not me!”

George continued to stay still, unsure, as he stood wading amongst the teal oceanwater tickling around his ankles. “Did you hear me?” Ponk continued sassily, “ _Nobody_ fools me, and neither will you be!”

Technoblade grumbled.

”There isn’t much time, the choice _has_ to be made!” He hissed, frustrated, “The moon,” He pointed at a blocky moon that had somehow came all its way into the daytime, “It’s getting closer— It’ll throw all of _nature_ out of _balance_ if we just sit around. We’ll _all_ be underwater.”

Ponk crossed his arms. “Really?” He protested, “A falling _block?_ Is that the best excuse you’ve got?”

The salmon-haired man clenched his fists.

“ _Humans.”_

“George, come to me!” Ponk shouted, flailing his arms around to signal George.

”George, please _trust_ me— you’re the _only_ one who can save us all. Do it now.” The sea admin jeered.

Suddenly, Dream leapt out of the bucket miraculously, and spewed water into his father’s face, angrily. Technoblade winced at the seawater pouring over his fancy garments.

” _Agh!_ Dream— Clay, _respect_ your father!”

George took this chance to toss himself and Dream over to Ponk, who he’d trusted more. He pranced over the wooden logs of a fallen dock, inching closer and closer. Techno shook himself off of the water, and threw prismarine shards into the ocean waves before him, giving life to them.

“Bring them to me!”

The inkfish-eyed waves hastily crept behind the boy, starting to catch up. George felt his chest aching but didn’t bother to give up or look behind him, knowing what could happen if he did. His quick legs darted over the logs, sloppily parkouring when he had to. The threatening waters trailed, almost creeping toward his ankles.

_“Faster!”_

Finally, the boy reached the end of the docks. Ponk called out to him, standing on top of one of the slabs in the marbled staircases.

“Jump for it!”

He launched himself off, tossing onto Ponk who was there, attempting to catch him. The bursts of water all caught up, engulfing the two, pulling them down into the ocean depths below. George noticed that he could _breathe,_ feeling the quick currents of water brushing against his face lightly, tickling a little. He kept his hand over the bucket, hoping to keep Dream safely tucked in.

Around the two scattered many, many tiny blobs smiling, guiding them all down. Ponk and George could finally feel the soft ground below them, and they braced themselves as they brushed their feet against it, George landing gracefully into his guardian’s arms while Ponk clumsily wobbled in place, eventually falling flat onto his face. George giggled.

”Bad!” The boy expressed, feeling the comfort of his guardian’s arms.

“You don’t have to swim!” Niki laughed, seeing Ponk spiral his arms in the strange new environment he was now in.

George looked up to see the warm smile of Bad, but noticed as his blob friend scurried out of the bucket tucking behind Bad’s shoulder. He looked back up again, finding out why. In front of them there was a tall blonde man with his striped hat over his shoulder length hair. He recognised him from a mythology book from their bookshelves back home.

The Survival God. _Philza._

Bad placed George down to stand himself on the ground, and stepped back for the two to have their space for their discussion.

“So, this is George.” Phil stated, giving the young boy a friendly smile.

”How do you do?” George looked up at the god, “Are you Dream’s gramps?”

”Mm-hm. And, you brought my grandson safely here.”

Ponk found himself about to speak, confused, but bushels of ‘ _Shh!’s_ surrounded him.

”George, Dream opened a magic ocean well ruin because he wants very much to be _human,_ to be a human boy.

He needs for you to accept him and love him as he truly his.

You remember when Dream was a blob, right?”

The boy nodded quietly.

”And you knew him as a human too. It was your drop of blood that did that.”

”Oh!” George exclaimed in realisation, “So that’s it! I cut my thumb, and Dream made it better.

So that’s how he became human after all, huh.”

Philza nodded, and finally asked him, “Could you love him, even if he moved through two worlds?”

“Mm-hm. I love all the Dream’s! It’s a big responsibility— but,

_I really love him.”_

Hearing that, Dream hopped over to swim around George happily, smiling charmingly. George laughed, and watched as the blob also playfully swam in circles around Bad as well. “Oh!” Bad chuckled.

”Dream, come here please!” Phil called, and his grandson made his way bashfully over to him, a bit overwhelmed. The god held Dream in his palm gently.

“Dream, George has promised to accept you as you are.

To become a human, you must choose to abandon magic.

_Can you do that?”_

The smiling blob nodded quietly.

Upon his answer, Philza warped a bubble over Dream, encasing him inside. He offered the bubble over to George, who held it in his green pail safely. Phil instructed the boy, “Kiss the bubble, child, when you’ve returned to land. And then, Dream will be growing up as a human boy, just like you.”

George peered down to his friend in the bucket as he listened to the blonde man. “I accept, Dream,” He declared, and looked back up again at the god to thank him,

”Thank you very much, Dream’s gramps.”

Philza raised his arms into the air,

” _Everyone_ , the balance of nature is _restored.”_ He declared boldly.

The gardeners finally huddled around George, feeling relieved and happy for the boy. “Life begins again!” beamed Karl, patting George’s head. Many of the tiny blob brothers gathered around to chatter and squeak to their big brother in his pail.

Sapnap cheered him on, “I’m so proud of ya, Georgie!”

Ponk, who was meanwhile away from the crowd, smiled to him, “You did very well, George. Thank you.”

“Good luck, Bad.” Philza told the hooded guy, holding his hand lightly.

Bad looked up bashfully, quickly piping up, “Thank you! I’ll take care of him well!”

———

The sea village now was thriving once again, the stacks of oceanwater finally washed out. Fishing boats and vessels returned from their dangerous journeys, all lining up at the spruce docks. And they’d _definitely_ caught the village lots of tales from at sea.

George, Bad, and the crowd of gardeners, holding their aprons just above the grass, made their way up the rocky cove back to the town over the sea level. Karl Jacobs rushed up through the people, somehow holding all of the gardening shovels at once cradled in his arms.

”W-wait!...Don’t..we need...our shovels...?” He panted between breaths, exhausted from climbing all the way up in front of the caravan of gardeners.

”Ah, forget the shovels. We deserve a break.” Ponk sassily protested, pushing his shovel away and continuing to climb up the cobblestone area.

George and his guardian found their way standing on top of one of the taller rocks that had eroded its way into a flat surface from all the rushing flood waters a few days before.

“I...suppose this is yours,” Technoblade encountered George again, handing him his small oak boat and plopping the banana-coloured leather cap onto his head. “My boat!” He exclaimed as he received it, adjusting his cap, “Thank you.”

“Try to remember me kindly,” The sorcerer bashfully uttered, regretting how harsh and threatening he’d been toward George and Dream’s friendship before. “If you will...

May I?”

The sea admin before him stuck out his pale hand to George, which the boy promptly took. They both shook their hands, now declaring their peace. “Take care of Dream for me, alright?” He asked George, who smiled to him sincerely.

“It’s Skeppy!” Bad gasped, hopping up and down eagerly. George followed behind him, seeing Skeppy’s ship— _The Badlands._ Or really, it was actually printed as _The Baldands,_ a spelling error he claimed it was. There he saw Skeppy, in his familiar turquoise captain’s hat, at the docks of the vessel. “Skep, over here!” beamed Bad.

”Bad and Gogy!” He waved back to them. “Ahoy!”

His _Baldands_ crewmates, Ant and Sam, gathered from the ship’s cabin, slipping off their hats as well and flailing their arms to their family and friends, happy to finally be back. George looked down into his bucket, where Dream remained in his bubble, happier than ever.

“Look, Dream, it’s Skeppy’s ship!”

The blob bolted out of the pail, flying into the air while George was left bumfuzzled, looking up at his friend. Dream fell back down to give George a small peck from the bubble, freeing himself, to finally be a human again

From there, the human boy had finally come back again— in his baggy lime jumper, his green eyes and muddy blonde hair, his familiar warm chipper smile just above George’s face.

**Author's Note:**

> Guys pleas leave comments about what u liked and ur ideas so i know what would be best to include, id love to read them :”)


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